


Re:Adjustments

by HouseofSannae



Series: Kingdom Hearts Ψ [18]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Additional Tags To Be Added As Chapters Are Posted, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempted Parent Trap-ing, But I'm still keeping to the Teen rating, COMMENTS MAY CONTAIN KH3 SPOILERS, Fire Safety Tips, Implications of sex and sexuality, Multi, Oblique references to past abuse, WHY IS THERE A DEDICATED TAG FOR ANTI-SORA AND ROXAS FRIENDSHIP?, Weird Cat, consider yourself warned, partially written pre-Kingdom Hearts III, plotted pre-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2019-10-28 21:48:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17795354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HouseofSannae/pseuds/HouseofSannae
Summary: Snapshots from life in the Mysterious Tower as Vanitas adjusts to being awake, alive, and whole.





	1. Lesson Number One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku and Vanitas begin training together, and run into a snag.

            “Okay, Riku! You’ve slept in long enough! Time to get up! You’ve got a big day today!”

            Riku groaned and blinked his eyes open to see his boyfriend’s smiling face. Beside him, Kairi let out a louder groan and grabbed the clock set next to their bed.

            “ _Sora_ ,” she hissed. “Nine AM is _not_ ‘sleeping in’.”

            “It is if you get up at normal people times, Kairi!” Sora replied, grinning. She threw a pillow at him, and missed badly.

            “Whatever,” she muttered. “Bathroom.” She pulled herself out of bed and staggered out the door.

            “Come on, you too, Riku! Up and at ‘em!” Sora poked his cheek and Riku swatted his hand away, sitting up.

            Sora wasn’t wrong, Riku did have a big day today.

            Today was the day he started training Vanitas to control his personal darkness.

            It wasn’t that he was nervous, it was that he was terrified. Terrified of getting something wrong, of not being able to be a good teacher, of not being able to fulfil what he’d promised.

            Sora could see it on his face. “Hey, quit it. You’re gonna be great, Riku. You’re patient, and you care about Vanitas’s wellbeing. Sure, there’ll be rough patches, but you can do this!”

            Despite himself, Riku smiled. “Thanks, Sora.”

            “Hey, it’s just the truth!” Sora beamed. “Now, is there anything we can do to get you feeling more confident?” As Sora talked, Riku had been getting dressed. Now fully clothed, he turned back to Sora, smirking a bit at the adoring grin on his boyfriend’s face.

            “Get me feeling more confident, huh?” he asked, and took a step towards him. “Well, I think there’s one thing we can do.”

            “Great! What’s that?” Sora asked.

            Riku’s smirk widened. “Well, I seem to recall someone claiming that I would never top.”

            It was kind of like cracking a glowstick, what with how quickly Sora’s face became completely red. “Uh..?” he asked, as Riku stepped forwards until Sora was backed against the side of the bed.

            Slowly, Riku traced a finger up Sora’s chest, continuing up his neck and tilting his head upwards with gentle pressure under his chin. “I think… that between the two of us, I _think_ … you might be wrong,” Riku said, softly, his smile growing wider as Sora’s face grew redder. He could hear Sora’s breathing getting faster.

            It was very nice, this feeling. Being in control, knowing that he wasn’t going to push Sora further than he was okay with, but also knowing that Sora would probably _let_ him push him further than usual, if he asked.

            Riku bent forwards and put a hand on Sora’s shoulder, holding him in place as he kissed him. Sora practically melted under his touch, so that Riku was also practically holding him upright.

            The kiss broke off, and there was an excited, longing look in Sora’s eyes that Riku found quite enjoyable. He grinned. “Hey, Sora?”

            “Y... yes, Riku?” Sora breathed, almost panting.

            “…You’re right. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do today so I’d better get going,” Riku said, smiling brightly. He placed his hand on Sora’s chest and lightly pushed, so that Sora fell backwards onto the bed. “See you later!”

            He crossed over to the door, but it opened before he could reach it. “goshdangedmorningtooearlydumbsexyboyfriendsIswearto – Riku?” Kairi said, looking at their boyfriend lying stunned on the bed. “What happened?” A mischievous grin crossed her face. “Are we teasing Sora again?” She moved over to the side of the bed to look at Sora, who had thousand-yard stare on his face.

            “Not… quite, Kai,” Riku said, smirking again.

            Kairi turned back to him. “Not quite? What do you - !!!” There was a sharp intake of breath as Riku snaked his hand up her back and gently grasped a handful of her hair. He didn’t pull on it, but his grip was quite firm, and Kairi stilled.

            Riku’s smile grew wider, and he gently pulled back, raising her head up to look at him. “Sora wondered if there was anything he could do help me feel more confident. And honestly? It’s working pretty well.”

            “Oh… good…” Kairi whispered. Slowly, tenderly, Riku leaned towards her raised head, kissing her harder than he usually did. Like Sora, she melted under his touch. She started to raise a hand of her own, but he gave a slight tug to her hair and she dropped it immediately.

            Riku broke the kiss, and smiled at her. Kairi had the exact same expectant and longing look in her eyes that Sora did. “This helped a lot, too. Thanks, Princess.”

            His grin widened as Kairi’s face turned just as red as Sora’s. “But, I have to get going,” he added, and released her hair, giving her the same gentle push so that she fell over the bed just like Sora. He cast a look back at them, lying upside down next to each other, and felt pretty good. “See you later!”

            He closed the door behind him and walked off. Sora and Kairi lay there silently on the bed. After a while, Sora spoke.

            “Kairi?”

            “Yeah, Sora?”

            “Our boyfriend’s hot.”

            “Yep.”

            The silence returned for a while, until Kairi said.

            “Sora?”

            “Yeah, Kairi?”

            “I’m kind of glad he isn’t like that all the time. We would never leave this room.”

            “Yep.”

 

 

            Riku rolled his shoulders and grimaced. The high he’d gotten from Sora and Kairi had only carried him so far, and now he was staring across the training field at a very grumpy Vanitas.

            “So, uh… Ven said you can summon your Keyblade again?” he asked.

            Vanitas’s eyes narrowed even further than they’d started at. “Yes.”

            Riku resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “May I see it?”

            Begrudgingly, Vanitas held out a hand and summoned his Keyblade. Riku nodded approvingly. “How does it fit? Have you tried practicing with it yet?” he asked.

            Vanitas shrugged. “Haven’t had a chance. Still talking to the old fuck.”

            Riku drew in a deep breath, deciding to ignore the slight against Yen Sid. Reacting to it would only feed into Vanitas’s mood, if Aqua was anything to go by. “There are some targets set up here. Take a couple of minutes, get readjusted to it. My newer Keyblade was a bit awkward for me the first time I picked it up.”

            Vanitas made no attempt to resist the urge to roll his eyes. “Whatever.” He strode over to the other side of the gymnasium Riku had asked to meet him in, and started attacking the targets.

            Riku used the opportunity to take a look at Vanitas’s form. To his mild surprise, it resembled his own quite a bit. Though there was an edge of savagery that Riku wanted to think he didn’t have. His own strikes were more surgical; Vanitas’s were harsher.

            But it was a similar enough basis that he could tell they’d had the same teacher. Not, he supposed, that either of them wanted to consider Xehanort (or Ansem, in Riku’s case) in that manner.

            “There, I practiced. Happy?” Vanitas said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. He’d walked back over while Riku was lost in thought.

            “Doesn’t matter if I’m happy with it,” Riku said. “You’re the one who has to use it.”

            Vanitas looked at him oddly, like he was confused. The distrust was evident in his expression.  
            “A-anyway,” Riku continued, stumbling a little over his words. “I’m guessing Xehanort would have taught you to draw power from the Darkness out in the worlds, right? That’s what Ansem tried to teach me to do.”

            Vanitas shrugged. “Sure. Whatever.”

            Riku blinked. There was recalcitrant, and then there was Vanitas. “You know this is a two-way street, right?” he asked. “I can’t teach you if you aren’t interested in learning.”

            Vanitas glared at him. “I’m interested. Just wake me up when we start.”

            “We… have started,” Riku said, at a loss.

            “Really? You haven’t even summoned your Keyblade yet,” Vanitas pointed out, smugly, like that was supposed to mean something to Riku.

            “No? I want to talk you though what I want you to do first. I wouldn’t be much of a teacher if I just… expected you to know what I wanted you to do without explaining it,” Riku said.

            There was a hardening in Vanitas’s expression. “Whatever,” he muttered, and Riku figured he was dropping the subject.

            “Right. So, what I’m going to try to teach you to do, is recognize your own darkness as distinct from the big Darkness,” Riku said, internally cringing over his word choice and hoping it didn’t make him sound like too much of an idiot.

            “Why?” Vanitas asked.

            “Because the big Darkness is the kind that corrupts, and everyone has their own personal darkness that won’t corrupt them,” Riku said. “And yes, the big Darkness is probably stronger, but I don’t consider losing myself again to be worth using it. I’ve seen someone do that. Go further than I ever dared, until it consumed them. I don’t want that to happen to me, or to you.”

            “Consumed?” Vanitas asked, interest piqued for what seemed like the first time.

            “I think he fell into the Realm of Darkness. I’m not sure,” Riku explained. “He might just be dead.”

            Vanitas shrugged. “Sucks to be him. If he was that weak–”

            “Strength had nothing to do with it,” Riku said, quietly, but in a firm tone. “Yes, he was reckless and power-hungry, but it wasn’t entirely his own fault. And we’re getting off topic,” he added. “How familiar are you with your own darkness?”

            Vanitas shrugged again. “It exists. Used to think it was all I was. Most of what I could do I got from negative emotions. You know, the only ones I had.”

            “Right. Uh… But you know how to use darkness with your magic, right? Dark Firaga and all that?”

            “Yeah,” Vanitas said, glaring at Riku like he was an idiot. Riku was trying very hard not to feel like one.

            “Good! It’s like doing that, but you draw the power from yourself, and only yourself. It shouldn’t be too different from using your negative emotions to summon Unversed, right?”

            Immediately Riku realized he’d said something wrong. “I didn’t have a _choice_ in making Unversed,” Vanitas grit out. “They just _happened_ , when I _felt_ things.”

            “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand,” Riku apologized. Vanitas rolled his eyes again. “But it should be the same principle. You’re not a channel for the power, it just comes from you. Would you be willing to try?” he asked, gesturing at the targets again, which had magically repaired themselves while they were talking.

            “Try what?” Vanitas asked, suspicious.

            “Using a Dark Firaga, or any other dark spell, with only your own darkness,” Riku said. “Here, I’ll show you what I mean.” He completely missed the way Vanitas stiffened as he summoned his Keyblade. “Like this.” He launched a Dark Firaga at one target, obliterating it.

            “Now, you try,” he said, as the target reassembled. Vanitas glanced at him, suspicion and… something else that Riku couldn’t place in his eyes.

            Begrudgingly, Vanitas raised his Keyblade, and gritted his teeth. Darkness pooled around his feet as he cast the spell.

            Riku could smell the rotten scent of Darkness in the magic. “Not quite. I know it’s probably instinctive, but the darkness has to come just from you. Try it again.” He noticed the odd way Vanitas was eyeing his Keyblade. “Something wrong?”

            “No,” Vanitas said, just a tiny hair too fast. He raised Lost Memory and tried it again, but Riku could still tell it wasn’t just his darkness in the spell.

            “Again.”

            If Riku had been a more experienced teacher, he might have picked up on the minute way Vanitas was wincing every time he failed. He might have noticed the anxiety that was beginning to grow on Vanitas’s face, the tension building in the other boy’s frame. He might have realized, before it became a problem, what was wrong.

            But Riku was new to teaching. And he himself was only seventeen. Teaching is a learning experience for both the student and the master, and some lessons can only be learned the hard way.

            “Again.”

            “I… I can’t.”

            “Huh?” Riku looked over to see that Vanitas was practically shaking.

            “I… _can’t!_ ” And to his surprise Vanitas collapsed into a ball, holding his arms over his head with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. “I can’t _do_ it, I’m too _weak_ , just get it _over with_ already!”

            “Get… get what over… Vanitas, what’s wrong?” Riku had no idea what was happening, almost freezing himself in concern. He just didn’t know what to do.

            Fortunately, he wasn’t alone.

            “Put the Keyblade away!”

            The command, in a tone that brooked no argument, rang out across the gymnasium. Startled, Riku let his Keyblade vanish, and there was an instantly noticeable, if minute, lessening in Vanitas’s shaking.

            Into the room strode the last person Riku had ever expected. They crossed over to Vanitas and knelt down beside him.

            “We don’t punish people for not being able to do something here,” said Donald, in a softer tone than Riku had ever expected from him. “If you can’t do something immediately, we want to help you learn and grow.”

            Vanitas’s breathing was starting to slow. “B-but… I can’t _do_ it…” he said, helplessly.

            “Neither can I,” Donald said. “I couldn’t do _any_ magic when I started out. It took time, and practice, to get as good as I am now.”

            Riku resisted the temptation to point out the doubts he harboured over Donald’s skill. “He’s right. We all start somewhere, and nobody is perfect the first time. I’m not going to punish you for not getting it right away.” He knelt down beside Vanitas as well, but didn’t reach out for him, assuming he didn’t want any physical contact at the moment.

            He should have known better. Should have realized that the only teaching methods Vanitas knew were Xehanort’s. Should have guessed that Vanitas would assume all teaching was a form of physical abuse. Should have noticed that Vanitas was trying to hide his fear. Should have –

            Donald was waving a wing (hand?) in front of his face. “Riku, you still there?” he asked.

            “Huh? Oh, yeah. I was…” Riku started, but Donald patted him on the shoulder.

            “I know what you were doing. I’ll talk to you about it in a minute, but first we need to help Vanitas,” he said.

            “I don’t need _help_ ,” Vanitas muttered.

            “Too bad, you’re getting it,” Donald said. “Riku’s not going to punish you at all, right, Riku?”

            Riku nodded. “If I’m hurting you, it means you aren’t learning.”

            “If you’re not hurting me, how do you expect the lesson to stick?” Vanitas snapped, glaring at both of them.

            “Because you’re a skilled, quick-witted person,” Donald said. “And most importantly, you want to learn. You want to get better, right? Get stronger?”

            “…yes,” Vanitas said, looking away from them.

            “And you know, that this is a way how,” Donald continued. “Right?”

            “…I guess,” Vanitas muttered.

            “Then that’s all the motivation you need!” Donald concluded. “You don’t need the threat of punishment to get better. And we’re not going to punish you. We’re not Xehanort.”

            To Riku’s shock, a miniscule smile twitched onto Vanitas’s lips. “I guess you aren’t,” he said, and the smile was gone as quickly as it had arrived, replaced by a grimace.

            Donald held out a hand to pull Vanitas to his feet. Vanitas’s hand flew towards Donald’s, but stopped before he slapped it away. “…No, I want to do this on my own,” he said, not meeting Donald’s eyes.

            Donald nodded. “All right.” Vanitas pulled himself to his feet.

            “Do you want a moment to calm down?” Riku asked. Without waiting for a response, he said. “Come back over here when you’re ready.”

            “I..” Vanitas started, but then merely nodded, and walked to the other side of the gym.

            “Get some water!” Donald called after him, and Vanitas did something Riku couldn’t see with his hand. Donald sighed. “They never said it would be easy, huh?” he asked Riku, smirking.

            “I… guess…” Riku said. “I’m not really… this isn’t…”

            “This is your first time teaching someone else,” Donald said, nodding. “So if Vanitas isn’t going to be perfect the first time, why should you?”

            “Huh? But… I… if he can’t do something, he can try again until he gets it right. If I mess up, there’s more at stake than just my pride,” Riku protested.

            “Yeah, and that’s why I was hanging about,” said Donald. “Riku, you’re new at this. It is important to get it right, but you don’t have the experience yet to do it perfectly. And no teacher is perfect. Even Master Yen Sid.”

            “…I’m not sure if it’s his fault Mickey is the way he is,” Riku said, smirking.

            Donald shrugged. “His Majesty is his Majesty. You see my point, right? Even someone who’s been a Master for decades can’t be perfect. And it’s only been a couple of months for you. So, stop beating yourself up for being new at this, ya big palooka!” He lightly punched Riku’s arm.

            “Donald… If I do mess up… and people get hurt because of it…” The “again” hung in the air, unspoken.

            “Then we’ll be there to help you pick up the pieces this time,” Donald said. “But it won’t come to that, Riku. We all trust you. It’s time that you started trusting yourself.” He smiled. “You care. You care about Vanitas, you care about your partners, you care about your friends. And that’s one of the most important things there is. As a teacher, and as a person.”

            Riku looked down at his hands. “Donald… I’m scared that I’m going to fuck this up somehow.”

            Donald nodded. “So is everyone who ever teaches anything. You gotta trust, in your student, and in yourself. And hey, if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that Vanitas is very stubborn!”

            Riku snorted. “I think he’d prefer the term ‘determined’.”

            Donald waved dismissively. “Six of one, baker’s dozen of the other.”

            “That’s… that’s not the same amount–” Riku started to say, but he was cut off by Vanitas returning to their side of the gym. “How are you feeling, Vanitas?”

            “Go fuck yourself,” Vanitas replied, but his mood seemed to have stabilized. “I’m trying it again.”

            “Not so fast,” Donald said.

            “Huh?”

            “There’s one other thing we can do to distance you from your time with Xehanort,” he said, tapping the side of his beak with a finger.

            “And what’s that?” Vanitas asked, instantly suspicious again.  
            Donald gestured to Vanitas’s dark suit, which he hadn’t taken off since he’d regained his own body. (It had been something of a fight to get him to take showers, and no one was sure he’d actually taken it off.) “We can go over to Twilight Town and get you some clothes of your own!”

            Several emotions crossed Vanitas’s face. Riku registered confusion, distrust, anger, surprise, and for some reason, fear. “I’d go with you, too,” he offered, and Vanitas looked between the two of them.

            “…If I can bring one other person, fine,” he said, slowly.

            “Sure you can,” Donald said. “Who did you have in mind?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Well, here we are again_  
>  _It's always such a pleasure_  
>  Turns out I only overshot by one week! Not bad, eh?  
> I've got a lot of stuff to talk about, and not a lot of ways to connect it, so let's start broad, get narrow, and then get even broader!   
> This fic was originally going to be titled "Adjustments", and the fic that currently bears that title would have been called "Settling In." But, while I was workshopping the title to the second fal-tor-pan (which was originally going to be "Re:fal-tor-pan: Unversed/Rebirth") I noticed I had a golden opportunity, and decided to take it! Re:Adjustments was originally going to be 15 chapters, but one I had to cut because I had a premise and nothing to do with it at this point, and the other I decided to make it's own one-shot because I had too _much_ to do with it. So that's what the fic immediately after this will be, but I'm getting ahead of myself.  
> You might be asking "why Donald?" Honestly, it's because I felt like I gave Goofy too much focus in these past couple of fics; I have one I prefer between the two of them. But, hopefully I'll be able to give Donald at least a little bit more of a spotlight. I don't _dislike_ him, I just prefer Goofy.   
> The title of this fic is from a Disney movie. You know I've never actually seen Mulan all the way through, start to finish? I've seen "all" of it, just never all in one sitting. I cannot say the same for Mulan 2, which I know I watched in one sitting, but I can recall nothing specific about it, save one thing. _Earth, water, moon and sun..._  
>  Now, the question I'm sure you're all burning to ask: I have indeed finished Kingdom Hearts III. So here's how this is going to work. I will not be mentioning spoilers in the author's notes for the rest of this fic. That's 13 weeks (because I'm not doing two chapters a week again, that was a special circumstance (and it's why this fic was a week late)) grace before there are unavoidable spoilers.   
> That said.  
> The comment section for this fic, and all fics going forwards, are free reign. If you want to ask me something and not have me mention spoilers, please say so. Because otherwise, I will do so if it's relevant to what you ask. Understand that there will be some questions I simply can't answer regarding the impact KHIII will have on this AU. So if you ask me "how are you going to handle ____", the answer I give will either be "I'm going to ignore it" or "wait and see". The overall plot of this AU is going to continue on unchanged.   
> So! Last bit of housekeeping! I finished Final Fantasy 7 the week before KH3 dropped, and watched Advent Children (and read On The Way To A Smile). I'm also an hour or two into Final Fantasy 8! And unless things start getting bullshit soon, I'm very confused as to why people say it's bad. I actually think I prefer Junctioning to Materia. (Honestly? I kind of didn't like Materia.) However, FF8 might be put on the backburner for a while, as I for some reason have taken a vested interest in putting effort into playing a little game called The World Ends With You...


	2. Second Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vanitas is taken to get new clothes, despite some frustrations the people he brings might have with one another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, there's an implied reference to self-harm in this chapter. It's very minor, but I thought I should point it out just to be safe.

            Awkward was an understatement.

            True, they did need someone to guide them around Twilight Town’s clothing stores, but Riku very much wished Vanitas hadn’t picked Roxas.

            He had no problems with Roxas. But Roxas had problems with Riku. Well-founded ones.

            Donald also being there wasn’t helping. Roxas had guided them to a likely location, but he had yet to acknowledge that Riku was even along for the trip. They had spotted Lea and Naminé hanging out at the record store again. Lea had noticed them, but Naminé was too engrossed in dancing to the music coming from the display headphones she was wearing. Lea had gestured a question and Roxas had shaken his head “no”. Lea had shrugged, and turned back to Naminé. Now, they were walking through aisles in a clothing store Roxas had directed them to, trying to convince Vanitas that he could, in fact, wear literally anything else.

            “All right, which ones are you putting me in?” Vanitas grumbled.

            “We’re not putting you in anything. You’re choosing these yourself,” Roxas said. It was curious to Riku how Roxas talked to Vanitas. It reminded him somewhat of how one of his neighbours back on the Islands had talked to her cat.

            Regardless, it did seem to work. “And you’re allowed to pick more than the one outfit,” he added. Kairi had told him about Naminé’s initial dilemma when picking out clothes, and he figured it was better to establish that quickly.

            “Whatever,” Vanitas muttered.

            “Do you want a second to look around?” Donald asked. “Too many options can be overwhelming.”

            Vanitas glared at him and stalked off, but he did take some careful looks at the racks as he went.

            “You’re being oddly patient,” Roxas said to Donald, continuing to pretend that Riku wasn’t there.

            Donald shrugged. “Some of my old friends have similar problems, from the war. I certainly do. So, sometimes you have to be patient. Vanitas wouldn’t appreciate being yelled at or teased.”

            “Must be hard for you,” Roxas said, sounding completely innocent.

            Donald glared at him. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

            “Huh? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” Roxas said, in the same tone of voice. Riku suppressed a chuckle. Donald’s eyes narrowed further, and he turned away, crossing his arms with a “hrumph”.

            Vanitas walked back over to them. “All right, I got things that should work, can we go now?”

            “No,” Riku said. “You need to try them on first. See if they fit.”

            “And if they don’t?” Vanitas asked, suspicious.

            “Then we try to find the same thing in a different size, or a similar item that does,” Riku said. “Changing rooms are over there.” He pointed towards the curtained-off area.

            Vanitas still looked suspicious, but he slowly made his way over to the booth and closed the curtain. “We’re right here if you can’t figure out how something goes on!” Riku called. That, finally, was what prompted Roxas to look over at him.

            “Really?” he asked, with just the bleeding edge of scorn. “I think he’s got that figured out.”

            Riku shrugged, embarrassed. “I mean… just in case…”

            “Uh-huh,” Roxas said, turning back away. Riku internally cringed.

            Vanitas stepped back out of the room. “Are we done now?”

            Donald, Roxas, and Riku all exchanged glances. The clothes he’d chosen fit, but–

            “Van, uh, not to discount your choices, but it’s really customary to wear a shirt under that kind of jacket,” Roxas said. “You can’t have your chest exposed like that.”

            “Bullshit,” Vanitas said. “Look at the duck.”

            “What about me?” Donald asked, an edge of temper peeking through his air of calm.

            “You’re not wearing pants,” Vanitas said, smugly.

            “That’s different,” Riku said.

            “Why is it different?” Vanitas demanded.

            “Because I’m not a hairless ape like all of you,” Donald said, a little smugly himself in Riku’s opinion.

            “Whatever. I didn’t see any that I wanted,” Vanitas muttered.

            “We’ll grab some for you to try. Would that be okay?” Riku asked. Vanitas shrugged, and stepped back into the booth.

            The trio exchanged glances again and went to gather likely candidates. When they had assembled again there was wide selection for Vanitas to choose from (Which, Riku had to admit, might also be a problem in the making). “Do you want to come out and take them, or..?” he asked.

            “Just hand them to me,” Vanitas said, and stuck a bare arm out past the curtain.

            There was a cold silence that descended on the party.

            “Well? Are you giving them to me or not?” Vanitas demanded.

            “Yeah, sure, here,” Roxas said, placing the stack on his outstretched hand. Vanitas withdrew his arm, and Donald, Riku, and Roxas exchanged another glance.

            “Those weren’t… they weren’t, right?” Roxas asked, quietly so that Vanitas couldn’t hear.

            The back of Vanitas’s arm had been covered in scar tissue. Dozens if not scores of healed cuts traced an angry, criss-crossed pattern from his wrist to his elbow.

            “No, they were on the outside,” Donald said, just as quietly. “They’d be on the inside if they were… that. No, I think those were–”

            “Defensive wounds,” Riku agreed, at the same level. He was suddenly, disturbingly reminded of how Vanitas’s fetal position had featured his arms raised over his head.

            “He doesn’t know Cure,” Roxas whispered in shock, another piece lining up.

            Donald took his hat off and started wringing it between his hands. “Xehanort…” he muttered, darkly.

            Roxas looked over at Riku. Riku met his eyes and for once, there was no hostility in them. “He’s with us now,” Riku said, in a tone he hoped was confident. “We’ll take care of him.”

            “We will,” Roxas agreed. It was the first time Riku could remember that Roxas had agreed with him on anything.

            Vanitas stepped back out of the booth. He still hadn’t put a shirt on. “I… don’t know which one,” he muttered. He held up two shirts, one red, plaid longsleeved button-down, and a light brown v-neck shortsleeved t-shirt.

            “…you know, both would be fine,” Riku offered.

            “What do you mean ‘both’?” Vanitas asked, defensively.

            “You can wear the t-shirt under the longsleeved shirt, and then the jacket over all of it,” Donald clarified.

            Vanitas stared at him dubiously. Roxas smiled. “It’ll look good, Van, we promise,” he said. Riku could have sworn Vanitas flushed a little bit at his words. “Try it on.”

            “…fine,” Vanitas muttered, and disappeared back behind the curtain. A couple of seconds later, he stepped back out. “Happy?”

            Vanitas was wearing the plaid shirt, unbuttoned, over the t-shirt. He’d chosen a pair of blue slacks, and the t-shirt hid whether or not he was wearing a belt (Though Riku was reasonably confident he had at least one). The jacket he’d chosen was black, with fake white fur surrounding the collar. Riku was oddly reminded of Leon from Radiant Garden, for a reason he couldn’t quite explain.

            “Well, someone cleans up nice!” Donald said, and Vanitas’s lips curled into a sneer.

            “I don’t need your appro–” he started to say, but stopped as Roxas put a hand on his shoulder.

            “No, you don’t, but it’s nice to have it, right?” he said, smirking.

            Vanitas glared at him, but said nothing. Riku cleared his throat.

            “You do look good,” he said, “but we forgot something.”

            “What did we forget?” Donald asked.

            Riku gestured at Vanitas’s feet. His bare feet. “We didn’t pick up shoes for him.”

            “Oh, right,” Roxas said. “Let’s go buy this and then we can hit up the shoe store across the street.”

            Vanitas raised an eyebrow. “‘Buy’?”

 

 

            After sorting that out, the group made their way across the street. Donald had fortunately had the foresight to insist Vanitas also buy socks. Unlike Roxas, Vanitas seemed to have no attachment to the boots from his dark suit, and was ready to ditch them completely.

            “So, not to overwhelm you with choice again, but there are several styles of shoe you have to choose from–” Riku began, but Vanitas shook his head.

            “Not interested. Practical boots are fine.”

            “Are you sure?” Donald asked. “You’re allowed to have more than one pair of shoes, you know.”

            “Bit rich coming from someone who doesn’t wear _any_ ,” Vanitas sneered, under his breath. Donald looked affronted, but then looked down at his bare feet and shrugged. “I suppose you’ve got a point.”

            “These are also something you have to try on,” Roxas reminded Vanitas. “No booth this time, just grab a bench and sit down. Because you want to make sure they fit,” he explained as Vanitas opened his mouth. “New shoes are always going to be weird to walk on for a while, but we need to make sure we get something that will fit your foot.”

            “Come to think of it, you need to get sized, right?” Riku interjected.

            “‘Sized’?” Vanitas said, suspicion creeping into his voice again.

            “Have your feet measured so we know what size shoes, or boots, to get,” Riku clarified.

            “You look around and I’ll go try to find someone who works here,” Donald said. He walked off.

            Vanitas shifted. “Can I… go walk around and look at them?” he asked, quietly.

            “Yeah, sure,” Roxas said. “Don’t pick up any until we know your size, though. We’ll wave you over when Donald brings someone back.”

            “Yeah, fine, whatever,” Vanitas mumbled, and took off into the racks with the air of a disinterested preteen who was secretly excited but didn’t think showing excitement was “cool”.

            And just like that, Riku was alone with Roxas.

            He shuffled his feet, awkwardly. Roxas’s gaze was locked on following Vanitas across the store. The silence was deafening.

            “So, uh… you’re doing a good job with Vanitas,” he said. Roxas flipped his gaze to him for barely more than a second before he was back to watching Vanitas.

            “Thanks. Your approval means the worlds to me,” he said, flatly. Riku pressed on. “I mean it. He really trusts you. I think Lea would be proud of you.”

            That got him a longer look. “If you say so,” Roxas said eventually, after staring at him in silence for just long enough to make Riku uncomfortable.

            He was saved from his plight by Donald’s return with a sales rep. There were several moments during the sizing where Riku feared for the poor man’s fingers, but he managed to deduce Vanitas’s shoe size with all of them intact. Vanitas took the information and promptly vanished back into the racks. He reappeared with a pair of boots that looked like they would almost reach his knees. They were black, and laced all the way from the toes to the cuffs.

            “Do they fit?” Donald asked.

            Vanitas glared. “Don’t patronize me. I checked.”

            “Well, put them on, then!” Roxas said, smirking.

            Vanitas huffed, but sat down and slid the boots on. After an extensive session of lacing, he stood up and took a couple of steps.

            “They fit fine, fuck off,” he snapped as he saw Riku’s mouth open.  

           “Wonderful,” Donald said drily. “Do you like them?”

            Vanitas stilled in a way Riku found concerning. “What does that matter?” he asked. There was a defensive note in his voice.

            Donald blinked. “Because you should pick a different pair if you don’t like them?” he said, slowly.

            “…yes. I like them.” Vanitas said, as if daring them to take the boots away from him.

            “Good! Let’s go ring them up!” Donald said, cheery. A very confused Vanitas followed him to the register.

            “…Does that bother you, too?” Riku dared to ask Roxas.

            Roxas was silent for a moment. “…Yes,” he said eventually.

            “He’ll get better. He just needs time and space.”

            “…If you say so.”

            Riku decided to damn the torpedoes. “I know so. Naminé did. Xion did. …You did.”

            Roxas turned to glare at him. “And whose fault was it that I needed ‘time and space’?” he accused.

            Riku flushed. “Roxas…I’m–”

            “I know you’re ‘sorry’, Riku. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t change what happened.” Roxas said. “No, you can’t make this right. Yes, I’m still angry. No, nothing changes between us. I only have one thing to say to you.”

            “And… what’s that?” Riku asked, feeling his confidence drop down around his ankles.

            “Don’t fuck up this time,” Roxas spat, and walked off to join Vanitas and Donald.

 

 

            “Something’s weird,” Vanitas announced as they were walking back to the train station. He offered no other information.

            “Weird how?” Riku asked.

            “I don’t fucking know!” Vanitas said. “Just walking around feels different. And I don’t like it.”

            “Is it the boots?” Donald asked.

            Vanitas glared at him. “No.”

            “Something to do with the jacket?” Roxas suggested.

            Vanitas swung his arms back and forth. “No.”

            Riku put a hand to his chin, pondering. What was different between Vanitas’s old outfit and his new one that… oh.

            “I think I know what it is,” he said. “This outfit doesn’t have a skirt like the dark suit did.”

            Vanitas slowly spun, like a dog trying to catch its own tail. “Huh…” he muttered.

            “And I think I have a solution,” Riku continued.

            Five minutes later Vanitas had the look in his eyes again of a preteen who wouldn’t get caught dead admitting he was excited. Riku had directed him to remove his jacket and button-down, and to use the sleeves of the button-down to tie the shirt around his waist. The jacket went back on over his t-shirt. The look wasn’t exactly in style anymore, but Vanitas seemed to like it.

            “Feels more like the skirt, right?” Riku asked, somewhat pleased with himself.

            “Yeah, I guess so,” Vanitas said, only slightly failing to sound disinterested. The not-smile slowly faded, and he turned away from Riku. “…th…tha…nk.....sss.”

            “You’re welcome,” Riku said, gently, and Vanitas flinched.

            “Whatever,” he muttered. “Train to catch, right?”

            “Actually it kind of idles,” Donald started to say, but he thought better of it after Roxas shook his head. “Right,” he said instead.

            There was a peculiar look on Roxas’s face as he looked at Riku. The hostility was there, too, but there was a sense of… re-evaluation? “What?” he asked Roxas. Roxas started, and shook his head. “Nothing.”

            Riku shrugged, and moved along.

 

 

            The ride back to the Tower was mostly in silence out of respect for Vanitas, who was still shifting a bit awkwardly and starting a bit every time his bare hand touched something. Riku figured he’d better look into picking Vanitas up a pair of gloves. Not like they’d be hard to find. They were plentiful enough that they might have some laying around the Tower, in fact.

            He was trying to figure out where any spare pairs would be hiding as he moved to follow Donald and Vanitas through the doors of the Tower, so engrossed in thought that he didn’t see the hand that descended on his shoulder coming.

            “Riku,” Roxas said.

            “Huh?” Riku started out of his thoughts. “What is it?”

            Roxas took a deep breath. Then, with a nasty smile that bizarrely reminded Riku of Lea, he said two words.

            “ _Fight me._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas's new outfit was inspired by [this](http://destiny-islanders.tumblr.com/post/170966835237/happy-birthday-paopunova-i-doodled-your) fanart by [destiny-islanders](http://destiny-islanders.tumblr.com/). Van might not have the Flood or Void Gear at this point, but I really like the look!  
> There's not much to talk about in this one. Roxas still doesn't like Riku, but he might be looking to work some frustrations out.  
> "The war" that Donald mentions refers to World War II. As you might know since it was pointed out in the comments last time, an actual part of Donald's character history is that he served in the American Navy in WWII. That's why he wears the sailor suit, and that's why he has such a hair-trigger temper and recurring anger issues: they're symptoms of his having PTSD. I swear I'm not making this up.  
> So I believe I mentioned that I got shown rough translations of the BBS novel while I was writing this? It was after I wrote this chapter. And like with Naminé, I was both pleased and horrified to discover that my interpretation (in this case, of Xehanort's "teaching" method) was spot on.  
> I think that's about it! For the curious, I'm further in TWEWY Final ReMix than I ever got in the DS version, Rhyme is precious (I keep adopting small blonde daughters, help, it's a serious problem), and I believe I'm on day 6 of week one (and not worried about Rhyme, because KH3D implied that Joshua knew who she was, and he hasn't shown up yet. If I'm wrong, let me have my false hope.)  
> Until next time!


	3. Get Real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas decides to work out his frustrations with Riku, regardless of whether Riku wants to participate or not.

            “Fight… _what?!_ ” Riku asked, confused.

            Roxas still had the sinister grin. “Fight _me_ ,” he said. “I have my Keyblade back now, remember? Fight me.”

            “Roxas, you’ve only had it for a couple of days,” Riku began, but was cut off by the feeling of leather slapping into his face.

            A black glove slid down Riku’s body and fell on the ground. “Formal enough?” Roxas said, sarcastic. “I have the other if you need more.” He held up his other glove.

            Riku bent down to pick up Roxas’s thrown glove. “You’re serious?” he asked, offering the glove back. “You want to spar with me?”

            Roxas shook his head, but took the glove back. “Not spar. _Fight_. Come at me with everything you have.”

            “But, Roxas–”

            “So _that_ way, when I beat your ass into the _ground_ , this shit will get settled once and for all,” Roxas said. It was actually starting to alarm Riku how much Roxas’s smile was reminding him of Axel.

            “…I’m not going to insult you by asking what ‘shit’ you’re talking about, because I know exactly what you mean,” Riku said. “But, Roxas, don’t you think we could work this through by talking together?”

            Roxas’s smile dimmed a bit. “You know, we probably could. We’ve got plenty of people who could mediate. But, Riku, the thing is…” His smile brightened right back up. “I don’t _want_ to talk this through. I _want_ to fight you. I _want_ to hit you with my Keyblade until I feel better.”

            “While I’m sure that would be… cathartic, I don’t know if that’s really the best way to deal with…” Riku started, but was cut off by the tip of Oathkeeper almost touching his nose.

            “Maybe not. But it’s how _I_ want to deal with it,” Roxas said. “So, feel free to stand there and do nothing. I’m just going to swing my Keyblade at your face, and if it hits you, it’s your fault.” He swung.

            Riku reacted.

            Oathkeeper let out a clang as it struck Riku’s Keyblade. “That’s more like it,” Roxas breathed, and charged.

            Riku, still not committed to the fight, stepped back, turning away Roxas’s wild swings. “Roxas, we both know you’re better than this!” he called.

            “Of course I’m fucking better than this!” Roxas yelled back, “You don’t get it! I don’t _care!_ ”

            His next strike was strong enough to knock Riku off balance, enough to make him stumble. With a demonic grin, Roxas slid in under Riku’s guard, with a single palm upraised.

            “ _Pearl!_ ”

            A blinding flash stuck Riku in the face, and he reeled back. Light magic. Of course. Roxas wasn’t like Ven, attuned to the wind. His element was light itself.

            This was not a good thing for Riku.

            He blinked, and was a bit alarmed that there was absolutely no difference in his field of vision. He’d been blinded by the spell. Fortunately, it was already starting to wear off, but for the time being, he couldn’t see. Couldn’t see, in a battle with an opponent who wanted blood. Riku was confident that Roxas wouldn’t _kill_ him, but “not killing” didn’t mean “no broken bones”.

            Luckily, Roxas had chosen to fight the one person for whom the inability to see wasn’t a handicap.

            Riku took a deep breath, and smiled. “Okay, I guess you’re serious. But, Roxas, what exactly was blinding me supposed to accomplish?”

            “What are you talking about? You can’t fight if you can’t oh _shit_ ,” Roxas groaned.

            “Knew you’d get there eventually,” Riku quipped, and rushed towards where Roxas’s scent was coming from. His sense of smell was powerful enough that he could tell where Roxas’s limbs were positioned, and altered his strike at the last minute to go for Roxas’s legs, instead of his torso. Roxas, who had been guarding high, cursed as Riku’s Keyblade impacted his leg. They stepped apart, Riku looking not quite in the right direction. It was something he was doing unconsciously, on purpose. _Roxas_ knew full well that Riku knew where he was, but looking the wrong way had sometimes unsettled opponents who didn’t know.

            “Ready to get serious now?” Roxas demanded.

            Riku sighed. “I guess I don’t have a choice.” He raised his Keyblade into his ready stance. Across the field, he could tell that Roxas was moving into his own.

            There was silence, there was stillness, and then they both moved.

            The clash that came from their Keyblades threw both of them back, but both moved to engage again. Riku ducked as a Fire whizzed past his head, and Roxas barely managed to somersault away from the darkness trying to edge into his shadow. With a snarl, Roxas shot five orbs of light out of his Keyblade, which didn’t move to attack Riku, but simply hovered slightly above Roxas’s head.

            “Try darkness again. See what happens. _Oh, wait_ ,” Roxas taunted.

            Riku understood. Roxas was no longer casting a shadow, not one he could reach at any rate. “I hope you don’t think it’s that easy to stop darkness, because it’s not,” he said.

            Roxas scoffed. “I thought you were teaching Van, not me,” he started, but was cut off as Riku charged, darkness coating his Keyblade.

            Roxas ducked, raising his Keyblade to block, but Riku’s target was the orbs of light. “Not a fan of these. They probably shoot lasers or something,” he said, conversationally.

            “No, they don’t, but…” There was a quizzical expression on Roxas’s face, and Riku resisted the urge to snort.

            “Getting distracted’s going to get you hurt,” Riku called, and flipped over Roxas to land a strike down his back. Roxas shrieked, and tossed out a Cure, but he looked unsteady on his feet.

            “Roxas, come on. Yes, I hurt you, and Xion. I recognize that. But this isn’t a healthy way to deal with how you’re feeling,” Riku said, in what he hoped was a calming tone.

            He hoped in vain. “You aren’t fucking _listening_!” Roxas shouted. “I don’t _give a shit_ whether this is _healthy_ or not! I just _need_ to do this!” His tone quieted. “After this… after this, I’m done. I’m not going to like you, but I can give up hating you. But first… _first_ , I need to get _this_ out. Talking wouldn’t be _satisfying._ I need to make you _feel_ the way I felt! To _beat_ it into your _stupid fucking pretty face_!”

            “Wait, my what?” Riku started to ask, but before he could process that Roxas lunged forwards and stuck him on the wrist.

            “Shit!” Riku hissed, and flinched away. There was some poetry in the fact that Roxas seemed to have broken the same arm again. Maybe this time it would get a chance to heal properly.

            But first, Riku had an enraged teenager to deal with. “Well, just remember, Roxas, you’re the one who asked me not to hold back,” he muttered, and leapt into the air.

            Roxas had a second in which to regret his choices as Riku descended upon him, stabbing straight downwards with his Keyblade. It would have been a stronger attack if he’d been able to use two hands, but either way the Dark Break sent Roxas reeling. He clambered to his feet, sputtering and coughing, wiping away a trickle of blood from a cut on his forehead.

            “Somehow,” he managed, breath ragged. “I think you’re still holding back.” He screamed, and rushed at Riku.

            A bright white light enveloped his Keyblade, and he swung harder than Riku thought possible. He could swear Roxas was practically warping around the field as strikes came from every direction. Just when Riku thought it was over, four pillars of light burst from Roxas and slammed into him, knocking Riku to the ground, and his Keyblade out of his hand.

            Roxas, looking drained, dropped his own Keyblade as well, and fell to his knees, but struggled back to his feet as Riku rose to his. With a yell, he swung his fist at Riku’s face, and Riku couldn’t get his good arm up quick enough to block it, falling back to the ground. Instinctively Riku swept his legs towards Roxas’s, yanking him off balance and onto the ground himself.

            Keyblades forgotten, the two resorted to punches, kicks, and the occasional headbutt. There was a pounding in Riku’s ears as the fists flew. Blood was oozing from cuts on both his knuckles and face, and Roxas wasn’t in a much better state. At this rate, this was going to last until they both collapsed from exhaustion, and Riku wasn’t sure what, if anything, would make Roxas –

            “ _STOPGA!_ ”

            Both boys froze, involuntarily.

            “What the _fuck_ do you think you’re doing?!” hissed the same voice. Riku and Roxas both looked over to see Aqua lowering her Keyblade. Behind her stood Xion, and to their surprise, Vanitas. As they watched, Ventus rushed Sora and Kairi out of the Tower to join them.

            “Uh… we were just…” Riku said, feeling like he had just gotten pulled in front of the principal.

            “I challenged him to a fight,” Roxas muttered.

            “Why?” Xion demanded, in a tone that required an answer.

            “Cause he’s… you know… _him_.” Roxas said, not meeting her eyes. Xion sighed.

            “And why did _you_ go along with it?” Kairi demanded of Riku in the exact same tone.

            “What was I supposed to do? He was going to attack me regardless,” Riku protested.

            “Jeez, I dunno, come in and get someone to help?!” Kairi said, frowning. Riku cringed, and it had nothing to do with the broken wrist. Kairi was _furious_. “You two are lucky Vanitas was watching!”

            “You were… watching?” Roxas said, looking over at Vanitas, who turned away.

            “Came and got me, and I got Aqua,” Ven said. “Seriously, guys? This was the best way to deal with your problems?”

            Sora was leaning down next to Riku. “Wait… Riku, is your hand broken?” he asked, and the note of concern and mild panic in his voice was almost enough to break Riku’s heart all over again.

            “Wrist. It’s fine. I’ve had it before,” Riku said, trying to reassure him.

            But Kairi was having none of it. “Before? When did you break your wrist before?” she demanded.

            Roxas let out a guilty cough. She swiveled to face him. “Oh really now.” Her eyes narrowed. “I suppose I can’t be mad at you for the _first_ time.”

            “Is that why you favour your other hand?” Aqua asked, squatting down next to him.

            “I guess. My body got changed right after it happened, so...” Riku said, trailing off.

            “Then maybe this time we can set it properly,” Aqua said. “I’m sorry, Riku, this is going to hurt quite a bit. Sora, do you want to hold his other hand?”

            Sora had been anxiously hovering by his boyfriend since noticing his wrist was injured. He sat down next to him and grabbed his other hand. “Kairi, can you help me with this? I need you to hold his wrist steady. If it’s misaligned when I cast the Curaga it’ll stay that way,” Aqua said.

            “Got it,” Kairi said, and gently moved Riku’s wrist back into position. It still hurt like hell. Sora clenched his hand tighter as Riku winced.

            “Curaga!” Aqua said, and the pain in Riku’s wrist, even the lingering pain that he’d learned to ignore, vanished. The cuts on his head and arms sealed themselves, but the pounding was still there.

            “Aqua, do you have a way of telling if I have a concussion?” he asked, concerned.

            “If you did, the spell would have taken care of it,” she said. “Any lingering pain is likely exhaustion.” She turned to Roxas, who was now being cradled by Xion, though she still looked just as angry as Kairi. “Any broken anything?”

            “Not to my knowledge,” Roxas deadpanned.

            “Trust me, you’d know,” Riku couldn’t help but quip, and Roxas glared at him.

            “Stop that,” said Xion, tapping him on the head as Aqua gave him his own Curaga. “We like Riku. Let it go.”

            “Whatever,” Roxas grumbled, but sighed. “Well, guess it’s time to move on. I only slightly hate you now, Riku.”

            “Only slightly, huh?” Riku asked, amused. “What happened to my ‘stupid effing pretty face’?”

            Roxas flushed. “I said ‘ _pretty effing stupid face_.’”

            “No, no you didn’t,” Riku said, grinning.

            “Whatever!” Roxas said, letting Xion pull him to his feet. “I need to go lie down for a bit.”

            “Oh _do_ you?” Xion asked, sarcastically. “Wow, I wonder why.”

            Roxas smiled blearily at her. “I _looove_ youuuu.”

            She rolled her eyes. “I love you, too, dork. Doesn’t mean you’re not in trouble.”

            They walked off, and Riku gingerly twisted his wrist. “Feels fine. Thank you, Aqua,” he said, standing up. Sora rose with him, still holding onto his hand.

            “Riku, I’m not going to tell you how stupid that was,” Aqua said.

            “I know…”

            “Because you’re about to get an earful of it from Kairi and I don’t want to steal her thunder,” Aqua continued, a slight smirk gracing her lips. Riku flinched as Kairi grabbed him by the arm, smiling completely without humour.

            “Come along, Riku. We have a long walk back to our room and I’ve got a lot of shouting to do,” she said, sweetly.

            “I… love you?” Riku tried, doing his best not to grin.

            “We love you, too,” Sora said. “But I don’t think you’re getting out of this that easily, Riku.”

 

 

            Roxas flopped down on the bed, wincing a bit at the sore muscles the Curaga couldn’t help. Xion slid in next to him, kissing his forehead.

            “Xion… can we… talk for a bit?” he asked, slightly nervous. “It’s about Riku.”

            “Always, Roxas. What’s wrong?” she said.

            He took a deep breath. “I… did call his face pretty. It just kind of… slipped out. Are… are you mad at me?”

            Xion lifted her head to make eye contact with him. “Why would I be mad at you? Riku’s very pretty.”

            “Yeah, but… I…” He didn’t know how to phrase it.

            Xion slowly kissed his cheek. “Lea mentioned to me once, offhand, that being in a relationship doesn’t mean you stop finding people attractive. It just means you’ve made a commitment to one person. Or more, if you’re from the Islands, apparently. Besides, it’s not like I don’t agree that Riku is…” she flushed, and quieted.

            Roxas was silent, contemplating. “So, no, I’m not mad. Are you mad at me if I say Aqua is pretty?” she asked.

            “Of course not, Aqua’s very pretty!” Roxas said. “…oh.”

            Xion smiled. “You get it now?”

            Roxas smiled back. “Yeah, I think I do.” He flushed, too. “We, uh… live and work with a lot of pretty people, don’t we.”

            Xion laughed. “Yes, yes we do. And I’m not going to be mad at you for noticing.”

            “And I won’t be mad at you!” Roxas agreed, cheering up. “Actually, we could… just, in private, the two of us… compare… notes?” The redness in his face came back.

            Xion’s face was bright red, too. “Just the two of us… yes, yes that would be… nice.”

            “Xion?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Still doesn’t mean I want to be with anyone other than you. Cause you’re the prettiest of all.”

            Xion blushed an even brighter red. “…thank you,” she whispered, and snuggled into his shoulder.

 

 

            There was still a bit of pain in Riku’s head as he led the way into his, Kairi, and Sora’s room. Kairi’s lecture hadn’t been as harsh as he knew it could have been, since the fight hadn’t really been his fault. He was looking forwards to a nice, quiet evening; hopefully his headache would be gone after he slept.

            Sora and Kairi seemed to have other plans.

            The second he walked through the door, he felt a force behind him as he was spun around and tossed onto the bed. He heard a loud click as the door was locked, and suddenly Sora and Kairi were on top of him, each sitting on one of his arms, pinning him down.

            “Um?” he asked, confused. There was a slightly crazed look in both of their eyes.

            “Riku,” Kairi said. “Do you really think you can just _do_ that to us and _leave?_ ”

            “Do..?” he asked, confused.

            “What you did this morning!” Sora said. There was a tone of need in his voice that was very familiar, and… oh.

            That had been this morning, hadn’t it. So much had happened during the day it felt more like two weeks had passed.

            “Sorry?” Riku offered, sheepishly.

            “‘Sorry’ doesn’t cut it, mister!” Kairi hissed. To his mild amusement, she was slightly blushing. “We’ve been wound up like this _all day!_ Your fault!”

            “What exactly do you want me to do about it?” Riku asked.

            “We want you to… finish what you started,” Sora said. His face, in contrast, was so red he looked like a tomato.

            “Finish what I..?” Riku started to ask, and then they both shifted slightly and the sensations on his forearms told him exactly what they meant. “Oh. Um… I’m really sorry, guys, but… I have a headache. I kind of just want to lie here with the lights out.”

            There was a second of silence, and then Sora slowly moved off of him. “All right.”

            “Sora?” Kairi asked.

            “If he says he doesn’t feel up to it, Kai, we have to respect that,” Sora explained.

            Kairi huffed, the needy expression still in her eyes. “…you’re right,” she conceded eventually, also moving off of Riku. “Sorry, Riku.”

            “No, hey, it’s my fault for leaving you… riled up like that,” Riku apologized. “Come here and cuddle me?”

            They laid down next to him, a little grumpily on Kairi’s part, and Riku sent out a little tendril of darkness to flick the light switch. The dark was an instant relief to his still-sensitive eyes.

            “Um, actually,” Sora said, and there was something in his tone that told Riku he was blushing. “Would it be okay if you… held us while we… fixed the… problem… ourselves?”

            “Fixed the problem yourselves?” Riku asked, knowing exactly what Sora meant and finding it quite amusing.

            “Yeah… and maybe… I dunno… tell us we’re doing a good job, or something?” Sora said. Riku could practically feel his cheeks burning.

            “Tell you you’re doing a good job?” Riku repeated, incredulously. He turned to Kairi, for their usual “our boyfriend is so innocent and cute” glance, but she was still turned away from him.

            “Kairi?” he asked.

            “What?” she replied.

            “Do you also want to be told you’re ‘doing a good job’?” Riku asked, smirking.

            “…yes.” Kairi muttered. Riku had never seen her this embarrassed before.

            He kissed both of their heads. “Sounds like a plan, then. I love you both.”

            “I love you, too!”

            “Love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's fan theory that I heard about around the time I started writing this fic, that Roxas actually broke Riku's wrist during their fight in Days. And because Riku immediately went tall, dark, and hAnsem, his wrist wasn't able to set properly, and _that's_ why it's bandaged when he goes back to normal in KHII.  
> If I'd heard about it earlier, I probably would have mentioned it earlier, but eh. Nothing's ever going to be perfect.  
> The other major thing I want to talk about here is a little bit of advice. Being in a relationship doesn't mean you're going to stop finding people attractive. That's not a bad thing. Ideally, your relationship will be such that your partner(s) don't mind, and you don't mind them finding people attractive. And if you all work that way, comparing notes can be fun.  
> I think that's all the major points, if you want me to talk about anything else, as always, feel free to ask.  
> And for the curious, I finished TWEWY last week. And yes, I read the secret reports. And yes, I watched Another Day. (tried to play it. Too hard. Didn't want to grind.) Quick thoughts: Good game, fantastic characters, neat story, controls are better on the Switch version but still kind of suck, glad I played it, probably won't be playing it again.  
> Until next time!
> 
> EDIT 3/3/19: Whoops, I messed up the titles. It was A New Day that I tried to play, gave up playing, and watched a playthough of. I just now attempted Another Day and... I very much dislike Tin Pin Slammer, so I turned it off immediately.


	4. Oath's Charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roxas tracks down Sora and Kairi to discuss something that's bothering him.

            “Hey, can I talk to you two for a second?”

            Sora and Kairi paused on the stairs, looking down at Roxas. It was a couple days after the fight between him and their boyfriend, and tensions seemed to have cooled.

            “Are you going to apologize for attacking Riku?” Kairi asked.

            Roxas blanched. “Uh, that’s not what this is about, but I can if you–”

            “It’s okay, Roxas,” Sora interrupted, smiling warmly. “We’re not mad at you.”

            “Speak for yourself, Sora,” Kairi grumbled, glaring at Roxas.

            Roxas sighed. “Kairi, I’m sorry I hurt Riku. It won’t happen again, on purpose.” It was a fair point, training accidents could and did happen. Lea was still nursing a sore foot from someone else’s improper footwork. 

            Kairi sighed as well, and smiled. “As long as it doesn’t happen again. Now, what did you want to talk about?”

            Roxas gestured to the common room, and they walked in and sat down. “It’s about my Keyblade,” he said, quietly.

            “What about it?” Sora asked.

            Roxas looked uncomfortable. “It’s not… mine?”

            “Not yours? What do you mean?” Kairi asked.

            “It’s…” Roxas bit his lip. “I should just show you.” He held up his hand and summoned Oathkeeper.

            Kairi and Sora were nonplussed. “Oh, it’s Oathkeeper by default? That’s cool, Roxas!” Sora said, smiling.

            “…do you not get it?” Roxas asked.

            Sora and Kairi looked at each other. “No?” Kairi said. “Is something wrong?”

            Roxas flushed. “Oathkeeper is… it’s something… it’s personal between the two of you, right? The Keychain is that lucky charm Kairi made for you, Sora. I feel like… like I’m intruding with this.”

            “Roxas, a Keyblade is made from your heart, how is that intruding?” Sora asked. Roxas and Kairi made eye contact and silently resolved not to mention that the Kingdom Key had existed for who knows how long before Sora picked it up.

            “Because… Oathkeeper was meant to symbolize the bond between the two of you,” Roxas said. “For me to have it and use it… it feels wrong somehow.”

            Sora and Kairi exchanged a glance. “Roxas, neither of us mind you having it,” Kairi said.

            “Yeah, you were using it the first time we met face to face, remember?” Sora said. “That and Oblivion.”

            “Hey, yeah, that reminds me,” Kairi said. “Can you guys not dual wield Keyblades anymore? You haven’t done it in front of me.”

            Sora shrugged. “Yeah, I could only do it because I had Ven’s heart, and Roxas could only do it because he had Xion’s. So, we can’t do it anymore.”

            “Oh, so it was like when Naminé and I used our Keyblades at the same time?” Kairi said. “That makes sense!”

            “Can you two please stay on topic?” Roxas cut in, irritated. “Why doesn’t this bother you?” 

            They both shrugged. “I dunno, there’s just something that feels _right_ to us about you having it,” Sora said.

            “Besides, it’s not like you took Sora’s Wayfinder to use as a Keychain,” Kairi said. Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t, right?”

            “Huh? No, I…!” Roxas broke off as she started to giggle. “Kairi, that’s not funny,” he grumbled.

            “It’s kind of funny,” Kairi teased. “But no, I know Sora’s still got it. Right, Sora?”

            Sora patted his pockets. “Uh…”

            “Sora?!” Kairi demanded, and he smirked. He pulled the Wayfinder out of one of his pockets. “Did you like it when I did it to _you_ , Kairi?” he asked, matter-of-factly.

            Kairi rolled her eyes and pouted. “I’m soooorry, Roxas,” she grumbled.

            Roxas smirked. “Apology accepted, Kairi.”

            “Anyway, yeah, you don’t have my Wayfinder. So, I wonder…” Sora trailed off, and summoned his own Keyblade. He clipped his Wayfinder to the pommel and, in a burst of light, the Kingdom Key transformed into another Oathkeeper.

            “Well that’s neat!” Sora said, brightly.

            “Not the word I would have used,” Roxas said. He held up his Keyblade next to Sora’s.

            “Oh, that’s interesting,” Kairi said. “Roxas’s Oathkeeper has a different Keychain.”

            Instead of Sora’s Wayfinder, a white shell hung from the pommel of Roxas’s Keyblade.

            “Oh yeah! Cool! Wonder what it means,” Sora said, contemplating the Keychain.

            “Well, yours is the Wayfinder because of me, so if Roxas has a seashell maybe it’s because of…” Kairi trailed off, and started smiling broadly. She pressed her hands together in front of her mouth. “I think I know why it’s a seashell.”

            “Why?” Sora asked.

            “Yeah, tell us,” Roxas added, interested.

            Kairi shook her head. “No, I need one more bit of information. And I can’t get it yet. I’ll tell you when I know I’m right.”

            Roxas blinked. “All right, whatever.” He looked back down at the Keyblades. “I still don’t get why there’s two of them, though.”

            “Well, it’s not like there’s no precedent for it,” Kairi said. “Aqua used to have a Keychain for Destiny’s Embrace. Apparently it was a bouquet of flowers I gave her. So, maybe Keychains sometimes mimic Keyblades that inherently belong to other people?”

            Roxas smiled a little. “I guess that makes sense. And hey, it also means you stole mine,” he added, smirking at Sora.

            Sora pretended to be offended. “Roxas, I don’t _steal_ things!” he shot back.

            “Just mine and Riku’s hearts,” Kairi put in, smiling at Sora and taking his hand. Sora smiled back at her, offended act forgotten. Roxas rolled his eyes.

            Something in his bearing made Sora tilt his head. “Roxas, is there something else bothering you?” he asked.

            Roxas sighed. “It’s… it’s nothing.”

            “Is it about Xion?” Kairi guessed.

            “No!” Roxas said, quickly enough that they both could tell he was lying. “…I don’t know if I should be talking about it,” he amended. “I love her…”

            Kairi reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “That doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to your friends for help, if you’re going through a rough period together.”

            “It’s not that, though,” Roxas said. “I’m… concerned. He Keyblade isn’t back yet, and mine is. She says it doesn’t bother her, but… we’ve been here before. I know she’s scared. And there’s… nothing I can do about it.”

            “Is she jealous?” Kairi asked. “That you have yours back?”

            “No, not at all, she was very… congratulatory…” Roxas’s face reddened and he looked away. Sora and Kairi met each other’s eyes and agreed not to press further. Roxas coughed. “But back in the Organization, when she lost her Keyblade, she was terrified they were going to get rid of her. Reduce her into a Dusk. Axel and I covered for her long enough for her Keyblade to come back, but…”

            “If you’re afraid of something for a long time, it takes a longer time to stop being afraid,” Kairi reasoned.

            Roxas nodded. “Exactly. But we would never send her away. She knows that, but she’s scared anyway. And I’m scared for her.”

            “Her Keyblade’ll come back!” Sora said, confidently. “And even if it doesn’t we have ways for her to get it again.”

            Kairi nodded. “‘Once a Keybearer, always a Keybearer.’ That’s what Aqua said, right?”

            “Right!” Sora agreed. “She’s going to be fine, Roxas.”

            Roxas smiled, but it was grim. “I’m not the one who needs that assurance. But, thank you anyway. Both of you.”

            Kairi smiled. “Glad we could help. Oh, and one other thing.” Her smile turned devilish. “Care to comment on your saying that Riku has a pretty face?”

            “…No.”

 

 

            Xion took a deep breath as she wiped at the plate. It was spotless, she merely needed to wipe the remaining suds off.

            “Gawrsh, ya didn’t have ta help me with the dishes, Xion!” Goofy said. He was nearly elbow-deep in the sink, and Xion was trying very hard not to think about the fact that he hadn’t taken his gloves off. “I do appreciate it, though!”

            “Well, it’s the least I can do,” she said, with a nervous smile. “I have to do _something_ around here, right?”

            Goofy turned to look at her. “Are ya feeling all right, Xion?” he asked. “Yer shakin’ a little. Is something wrong?”

            Xion set the plate down. “It’s… Roxas has his Keyblade back now, and I don’t have mine,” she said.

            “And that’s bothering ya?” Goofy asked.

            “Yes and no?” Xion said. “I’m very happy for him, and I…” she looked at Goofy’s face and decided she didn’t want to talk about the way she had congratulated Roxas after everyone had gone to bed that night. “…It’s not that I’m jealous, I’m just… scared because mine isn’t back yet.”

            “You’re scared that it might not come back?” Goofy asked, gently.

            Xion nodded, her eyes starting to run with tears. “Th…the one the Organization gave me wasn’t a real Keyblade. And I’m not connected to anyone who had one, like Sora and Roxas were. So… so I might never have really had a Keyblade at–”

            “Aw, hogwash!” Goofy declared. “Ya couldn’t have been collecting hearts without a real Keyblade! And even if ya didn’t, everyone here would be more than happy ta give ya the power.” He held his arms out and Xion gratefully leaned into his shoulder.

            “I know that,” she whispered. “But… I don’t want to be useless.”

            Goofy patted her back. “Not havin’ a Keyblade don’t make ya useless, you know. Look at Donald and me! No Keyblades, but we don’t do too badly, now do we?”

            Xion shook her head. “It’s not… the same. I… b-back in the Organization I was only useful if I had a Keyblade. Things are different now, I _know_ that, but I’m still so _scared_.”

            “It can take a long time ta stop bein’ scared of something, ‘specially when you’ve had to be afraid for so long,” Goofy said. “Is that why ya asked to help me?”

            Xion nodded. “Doing _something_ is better than doing nothing. Even something small.”

            Goofy chuckled. “I know whatcha mean. Hmmm… I think I have an idea!”

 

 

            Xion looked at the door, then back to Goofy, nervously. At the end of the hallway behind her, Goofy gave her a thumbs up. Xion gulped, then knocked on the door. “It’s open!” came the response. Gingerly, Xion entered the room.

            Aqua looked up from her book. “Xion?” she asked. “Can I help you with something?”

            Xion took a deep breath. “Actually, I came to ask if I can help _you_ with something,” she said.

            Aqua frowned, confused. “I’m sorry?”

            Xion decided to lay it all out. “Aqua, I’m scared that my Keyblade won’t come back. And while I was in the Organization, not having my Keyblade meant I was useless. Meant I would be t-turned into a Dusk.” Her lip trembled. “S-so, even though I know none of you would ever hurt me, or send me away, I… I can’t help but be scared. I don’t like not being able to help. I don’t like being useless.”

            Aqua rose from her chair and held out her arms. Xion gratefully leaned into the hug. “You are not ‘useless’,” Aqua said. “Your worth to us, and in general, isn’t determined based on whether or not you can use a Keyblade. I know it’s hard to internalize that. But, look what you did for Ven and me.” She patted Xion’s head, and smiled. “If you don’t mind pouring through old books that are barely helpful, I’d welcome your help.”

            “Thank you,” Xion said, partially muffled from being pressed against Aqua. Aqua laughed. “You’re the one who’s offering to help _me_ , remember? I should be thanking _you_.”

            Xion stepped out of the hug, feeling much better. “So, what have you learned so far?” she asked.

            Aqua made a face. “Not… too terribly much, actually,” she admitted. “It’s as much trying to reconstruct what Xehanort was thinking as it is looking up prior incidents. All I keep getting is vagaries and warnings. And, oddly, references to the first Keyblade War, although I suppose Xehanort was obsessed with it. Nothing helpful about restoring someone’s heart to their body.” She sighed. “That seems like the kind of thing best left to fairy tales.”

            Xion frowned. “Then… why not look in fairy tales?”

            “Huh?”

            “We call the time period the first Keyblade War happened in ‘the Age of Fairy Tales’, right?” Xion asked. “And Kairi’s grandmother would tell her about the events of the War as stories. So, maybe… information from back then survived as literal fairy tales?”

            Aqua blinked, and started to laugh. “Light above. Xion, that’s… that’s brilliant. You could be absolutely right. And… and if that is the case, Xehanort would have hunted any such story down. I would never have thought to look there!”

            Xion beamed. Aqua smiled back, and held out her hand. “Come on. We’ll take a look around the library, see if we can’t find compilations of fairy tales. They’re bound to be more interesting to read than what I’ve _been_ going through,” she muttered. 

            It was nice, being able to be helpful, Xion thought. Even if her position, her life, wasn’t in danger, there was still a nice feeling involved with bringing a smile to other people’s faces.

            And even if just a little bit, it helped stave off her fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you have ideas that just aren't long enough. Sometimes, you have ideas that you have to start building towards. Sometimes those ideas meet in the middle, and your chapter that's supposed to be just about Sora, Kairi, and Roxas discussing why Roxas has Oathkeeper winds up also containing buildup for Xion dealing with her fear of being useless. Also, a setup for Aqua - Xion bonding time, because that's the only one I couldn't do in Land of Oblivion.  
> And that's pretty much all there is to it! We'll be getting back to Vanitas next week.  
> On an unrelated note, I've been doing beta reading for a friend of mine who's writing a crossover between Kingdom Hearts (358/2 Days specifically, at the moment) and How to Train Your Dragon. You can find [How to Train Your Heartless](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17656550/chapters/41639159) with this link. It's been very interesting so far, and although I'm not privy to the full plans, I'm very interested in how things are gonna play out. "I know _I_ wanna know!" (hush, it was in the trailer, it doesn't count as a spoiler; and when am I going to get the chance to play with Larxene again, anyway?) Stop by and give her some love, because she deserves it!


	5. Now Burn Down In Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanitas goes first to Riku, then to Lea, for help in leaving the past behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The words are dying in the night_   
>  _No winter lasts forever_   
>  _The seasons pass and sunlight will shine_   
>  _On my life again_   
>  _So leave the past behind_
> 
>  
> 
> _The dark clouds fading for my mind_  
>  _No pain will last forever_  
>  _The seasons pass and the sunlight will shine_  
>  _On my life again_  
>  _So let the past..._
> 
> \- [_Seasons_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMlLTaq285c), Dragonforce

            Training was going well.

            At least, Riku thought training was going well. Vanitas hadn’t had any more panic attacks since getting his new wardrobe, so it was going well, right? Vanitas seemed to be learning. It was getting easier for him to use his own darkness, though he still slipped sometimes. And, if it wasn’t going well, Riku would have noticed, right? Vanitas wasn’t the sort of person to hide his displeasure, so –

            “Stop that,” Donald said, swatting Riku over the head. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re doing fine.”

            At his insistence, and with Vanitas’s grudging acceptance, Donald was sitting in on the training sessions to make sure things went smoothly despite Riku’s inexperience. Riku was privately quite grateful for it, as Donald was also good at keeping him on an even keel. Roxas had occasionally stuck his head in as well, just to check on Vanitas. Riku could tell it meant a lot to him.

            Thus it was a bit of a surprise when Vanitas asked if he could talk to Riku in private at the end of the day’s session.

            “What did you… do with _your_ dark suit?” Vanitas asked him once Donald had left.

            “Huh?”

            “Your dark suit. When I came back everyone was saying the dark suit I was wearing looked like yours. So, you must’ve had one. What did you do with it?” Vanitas wouldn’t meet his eyes.

            “I… didn’t really do anything with it?” Riku said, confused. “For a while it appeared whenever I used the Darkness, but once I learned to keep my own separate, it stopped. And I haven’t had it since Ansem was removed from me. So…”

            “You just don’t have it anymore. Huh.” Vanitas muttered. “Well, whatever.” Despite his tone, he didn’t turn to leave.

            “Is something wrong?” Riku asked.

            Vanitas grit his teeth. “Mine is… hanging in my closet,” he ground out. “It… I feel like it’s staring at me sometimes.”

            Riku nodded. “I get why you’d want to get rid of it. It’s just a reminder of a shitty part of your life, right?”

            Vanitas shrugged, but Riku could tell he agreed. Riku took a deep breath. “There’s one thing you could do about it,” he said, cautiously.

            “What?” Vanitas asked, finally looking at him.

            “…back during school on the Islands, there was a point where Sora and I hated the curriculum so much, we decided to burn our textbooks once the year ended,” Riku admitted. “So that they were gone for good.”

            Vanitas stared at him. “Are you suggesting I burn my old clothes?”

            “…Yes?” Riku said, awkwardly. “It’d be a very definite way to put an end to that period of your life.”

            Vanitas was silent, considering. “I mean, you don’t _have_ to,” Riku said, nervous. “And if you decide you want to do that, I’d go talk to Lea about it. Fire is kind of his thing.”

            “Is it now,” Vanitas said, deadpan. He grimaced, and moved to the door. Just before he reached it, he turned, and muttered something under his breath.

            Riku smirked. “You’re welcome,” he said in response. Vanitas glared at him, and to Riku’s amusement, seemed to flush a little. He’d guessed correctly; Vanitas had mumbled a “thank you”. With that, Vanitas turned, and left the room.

 

 

            There was a knocking at his door. “It’s open!” Lea called, not looking up from his magazine. He’d picked up a few with interesting-looking covers on his and Naminé’s last sojourn into Twilight Town, and even though he wasn’t familiar with the world, shitty celebrity gossip was shitty celebrity gossip. He’d never really been able to look away from train wrecks.

            The door swung open, but nobody walked in. Lea looked up, confused, and saw Vanitas lingering in the doorway.

            “Vanitas?” he asked, cautiously, not wanting to spook the poor kid again. “What’s up?”

            Vanitas didn’t meet his eyes. “Riku says you’re the person to talk to about burning things?”

            “Well, now that’s a loaded question,” Lea quipped. “What needs burning?”

            “This,” Vanitas said, and dropped what looked like a leather onesie on the floor.

            Lea frowned. “That your old suit?”

            “Yep,” Vanitas said.

            “…trying to cut ties with your past?” Lea asked, in a gentler tone than he’d been using.

            “Yep,” Vanitas said, in exactly the same tone he’d been using.

            “Yeah, I know a thing or two about that,” Lea said, and slowly stood up. “I’m gonna need to pop over to Twilight Town for some supplies. Meet me out in front of the Tower after dark, okay?”

            “Fine,” Vanitas said.

            There was a second of silence.

            “I’m not picking it up off the floor for you, you realize,” Lea said, amused. Vanitas scowled, and didn’t break eye contact with Lea as he picked the dark suit back up.

            “Relax, last time you have to do it ever,” Lea advised. Vanitas kept scowling. Lea’s smile faded. “You okay?”

            Something in Vanitas’s jaw twitched. “No,” he said, and Lea could see in his face how much admitting that took out of him.

            “That’s all right,” Lea said, quietly. “If you need to talk, I think Roxas is in the common room.”

            “No, I… I need to get this done,” Vanitas mumbled.

            “Okay,” Lea said. “Then I’ll be right back.”

 

 

            It was a couple hours later when the sun finally dipped far enough below the horizon that it was dark enough for what Lea had in mind. He had stopped in after gathering supplies to clear what he was about to do with Yen Sid; he didn’t mention he had done so to Vanitas, however. Sometimes it was nice to feel like a rebel, and setting things on fire (seemingly) without permission could give that feeling.

            Of course, the fact that there was now a fire pit on the Tower grounds that hadn’t been there before was something of a giveaway. Lea couldn’t blame Yen Sid too much; the old man probably thought he was helping. It made Lea’s job easier, at least.

            “Aight, so, wanna learn how to build a proper fire?” he asked, grinning at Vanitas.

            Vanitas glared at him, but, though obviously reluctant, nodded.

            Lea’s smile widened. “All right.” He held up a bag of shredded paper, that he had borrowed out of Twilight Town’s recycling facility. “We start with something that’s gonna catch real quick. Paper like this goes up fast, so do small twigs and grasses if you’re out in the middle of nowhere.” He paused, considering. “Oh, also. Don’t cut down trees or pull branches off to make a fire. They’re still using them, right? Gotta find stuff on the ground.”

            “I guess that makes sense,” Vanitas muttered.

            Lea nodded, still smiling. “So these go in the centre.” He opened the bag and arranged the paper into a small clump. He stepped back and surveyed his work. “That should do it. Now, the next level.”

            “Next level?” Vanitas asked. There was, to Lea’s delight, a tiny hint of curiosity in his tone.

            “Exactly. You build a fire in tiers, got it memorized? You start with this stuff – kindling, by the way, is the term for it – then you surround that with larger sticks, and then finally larger logs. But, we’ll get to that.” Lea sat down again and started pulling sticks out of a different bag. “There’s two generally accepted ways to go about this. You’ve probably seen the way campfires are usually drawn, with the standing tent of sticks–”

            “No,” Vanitas interrupted, with a hard edge in his voice.

            “No? I’m sure you… oh. Right.” Lea realized, chastened “Well, that’s how people generally draw them. And that works. But, there’s another way to build a fire, where you pile the sticks like this.” He laid the sticks around the kindling pile in the same pattern as a log cabin, alternating two per layer. “This is more stable. The last thing you want is the wood falling over when it’s on fire. That’s an accident waiting to happen.” He sat back and studied his work, nodding slowly, then looked back up at Vanitas. “Actually, come to think of it, I skipped a step.”

            “Did you,” Vanitas said, unamused.

            Lea nodded. “Fire safety.” He sprang to his feet. “Be right back.”

            Vanitas rolled his eyes, and Lea returned a couple minutes later with two buckets. “Now, I’m being redundant here,” he called. “One of these is water, the other is sand. Want to guess why?”

            “No.”

            “Come on, I know you know the answer. You’re smart,” Lea said, only slightly teasing.

            Vanitas huffed. “Water puts out fire. You said ‘fire safety”, so the sand probably does the same thing.”

            “Exactly right! Knew you could do it!” Lea grinned, and Vanitas scowled. “And yes, if you dump sand on a fire it will go out. Fires need oxygen – that’s the same gas in the air that we need to breathe – so if you smother one with sand, it’ll go out.”

            “Fantastic,” Vanitas deadpanned, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

            Lea smirked and went back to the task at hand. “Now that we have our basic structure, and our safety measures, it’s time to light this puppy. Side note, don’t burn puppies,” he quipped. Vanitas let out what could have been a normal breath, or could have been a sigh of exasperation.

            “Oh, are you wondering why I haven’t built the third tier yet?” Lea asked.

            “No,” Vanitas said in that teenage tone that meant “yes but I don’t want to admit it”.

            “Well, just like the sand, if we dump a large log on a small fire, it could very well cut off the oxygen and smother it,” Lea explained. “So, we add them on after the fire’s started and blazing away. That way the fire only gets bigger.”

            “Hrumph,” Vanitas mumbled, but there was interest in his eyes.

            “As for lighting it, I’m not just going to toss a Fire at it, cause that kinda defeats the purpose,” Lea continued. “So, you either get yourself a lighter or a box of matches, or you strike a bit of rock against a bit of metal to make sparks. Flint and steel are the classic choice. But I do just so happen to have matches, so we’re not gonna resort to that.” He pulled out a packet of matches, courtesy of the kitchen supply closet, and struck one. Gently, he placed it against the kindling, and softly blew.

            “Oh, the blowing is to move more air towards it,” he said as he caught the look Vanitas had barely managed to disguise. “Don’t want to actually _breathe_ on it, but we do want to give it more oxygen. Like so!” The kindling was starting to catch. As the fire spread, Lea blew out the match.

            Once the fire had reached what Lea decided was an acceptable size, he gently placed one of the larger logs on top.

            “Now, we add these sparingly, it takes a long time for them to burn down. Pile on more than one at a time, and–”

            “It smothers it?” Vanitas interrupted.

            “Ah, you noticed the pattern. You’re right,” Lea agreed. The flames started licking at the log. Lea breathed in. “Mmm, nothing quite like the smell of wood smoke.”

            “You actually enjoy it?” Vanitas asked.

            Lea flashed him a grin. “Not much about fire I don’t enjoy. Plus, this wood has a great scent.” At Vanitas’s now-openly-quizzical expression, he added, “Different wood has different smells when it burns. On that note, never burn pine. It’s chock full of sap, and the sap explodes when heated. Trust me. Was picking splinters out of my hair for _days_ afterwards.” He smiled, remembering that day fondly. It was a good thing he’d been convicted to wear safety glasses by... but that was neither here nor there.

            Vanitas accepted this information without argument, and the two sat in silence for a while as the fire grew hotter.

            “I owe you an apology,” Lea said eventually.

            It was like he’d burst a balloon next to Vanitas’s head. “You what?” he asked, instantly on guard.

            “I owe you an apology,” Lea repeated. “For threatening you. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry.”

            Vanitas looked like someone had just handed him a live weasel and expected him to know what to do with it. “You aren’t required to forgive me, you know,” Lea said, gently, deciding to ignore the awkwardness Vanitas obviously was feeling. “You can hate my guts for the rest of your life if you feel it’s justified. But, I want you to know that I regret the way I spoke to you, and what I said. It was wrong of me and I shouldn’t have done it. Okay?”

            Vanitas’s mouth flapped open and closed for a bit without any sound coming out. Eventually, he managed a weak nod. He still looked shocked and confused.

            “Fire’s ready!” Lea announced. It was hot enough and large enough now that it should be able to burn Vanitas’s suit without getting smothered. It also seemed like the time for a subject change.

            “I shouldn’t just toss it on the top, right?” Vanitas asked, tone guarded. “It’ll also smother it?” Now, why would he sound like he expected Lea to punish him for making a guess oh. Oh, yeah, any learning he’d had before Riku wouldn’t have been the kind that encouraged his active participation.

            “Yep. You’re right,” he said, probably a bit gentler than he absolutely had to be. “Try balling it up and sticking it in the coals.” He pulled a pair of oven mitts out of the bag. “But put these on first. Don’t want to burn yourself.”

            “Yeah, yeah,” Vanitas muttered, but accepted the gloves. He balled up the suit and placed it in the fire, then backed away. He looked like he was breathing hard.

            Lea stood up and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. Vanitas flinched, and he withdrew it immediately. “Sorry,” he offered.

            It was faint, but there was a mumbled. “It’s fine.”

            Flames licked at the dark suit until it caught. Lea grinned as the fire spread over the offending clothing, and then frowned. “Huh. Well, that throws off that plan.”

            The fire, where it touched the suit, was turning green.

            Vanitas looked at him. “What’s happening? Why the green flame?”

            Lea shrugged. “Suit’s probably made of some weird material. Fire can be different colours depending on what’s burning. But non-red, orange, or yellow flames typically mean something’s burning that you don’t want to inhale. Not that inhaling smoke is good for you to begin with, mind.”

            Vanitas coughed. Lea motioned him to move out of the way of the smoke. “Should’ve mentioned this earlier. Don’t stand downwind if you can help it.” He chuckled. “Back when we were kids, Is–” he cut himself off.

            Vanitas looked at him. “You were saying?” he asked.

            Lea grit his teeth. “… Isa would always end up standing in the path of the smoke. Used to claim it was chasing him,” he muttered. “And, to be fair, it did seem like it was following him sometimes.”

            Vanitas absorbed this without comment. The both stared at the flames for a while, in silence.

            This time, it was Vanitas who broke it. “…Would you follow me?” he asked, suddenly.

            “Huh?”

            “If I left. Right now. Would you follow me?” There was a challenge in his tone.

            But Lea chose not to rise to it. “To chase you down and bring you back, you mean? Nope. Goofy was right, you’re a guest, not a prisoner. If you leave of your own free will, it would be wrong of me to hunt you down.”

            “I see,” said Vanitas, quietly.

            “That said,” Lea added, smiling softly. “If you were to leave, especially without saying goodbye, _Roxas_ would chase after you. Not to ‘recapture’ you or anything, but because he considers you a friend, and would want to know you’re okay. And I’d go along with him, of course, as would Xion. So, in that sense, yes, I’d follow you. Just not for the reasons I said I would that night.”

            Vanitas didn’t answer. Time stretched onwards, and the fire died down, leaving only blackened ash where the suit had once been. Vanitas took a deep breath, and, almost imperceptibly, shuddered.

            “One other thing I wanted to do,” Lea said. “But we’ll build a fire in the Tower for it. There’s a fireplace in the common room, I think.”

            “What’s that?” Vanitas asked.

            Lea grinned, and held up a bag of marshmallows. “I think you’re gonna enjoy this.”

           

 

            “See, I would have had us do this over the suit fire, y’know, as an added catharsis thing. But, with the green flame and all, figured it was better not to eat stuff cooked in that one. Need more chocolate?”

            “…Yes,” Vanitas muttered. He had chunks of cracker and marshmallow stuck to his lips. Lea smirked. S’mores had been a good idea.

            They had relocated to the common room and Lea had set up another fire in the fireplace. He had then given Vanitas one of each of the ingredients to taste-test as he explained the concept of s’mores.

            Vanitas looked at the gooey mess that had dripped onto the fireplace grate. “Are we… supposed to be doing this in here?” he asked.

            “Nope,” Lea said, winking at him. He was pleased to see Vanitas smirk in return. “I’ll clean it up later, being the ‘responsible adult’ and all. Oh, speaking of which, you’re gonna want to wash your clothes. The smell of smoke tends to linger. Shower, too.”

            “Fine,” Vanitas groused, but it was less the snarl of a cornered animal and more the grumblings of a parented teen. 

            Lea smirked. “Gotta say, though, loving the new outfit. Especially the plaid shirt. I’m sure you’re the envy of butch lesbians everywhere.”

            Vanitas frowned, chewed, and swallowed. “What’s a… ‘butch lesbian’?”

            Lea froze, having horrible flashbacks to Xion asking why he didn’t like girls. This was not a discussion he was prepared to have again, particularly with Vanitas only just starting to trust him–

            Wait.

            Lea smirked. “You know what? That’s a question you should really be asking _Naminé._ ”

            Vanitas blinked. “All right, whatever,” he said. Lea’s smirk widened.

            True, as the saying went, revenge was a dish best served cold. But, Lea was impatient. Lukewarm was good enough.

 

 

            The next evening, Lea was pouring over the magazines again when there was a pounding at his door. “It’s open!” he called, and it swung forwards to reveal a very irate Naminé.

            “ _Why,_ ” she demanded, furious.

            Lea smirked, not looking up from the magazine. “I do a lot of ‘why’, Nam. Gonna have to be way more specific.”

            Naminé stalked over and yanked the magazine out of his hands. “ _Why_ did you send Vanitas to ask me what a ‘butch lesbian’ is?!”

            “Oh, I dunno,” Lea said, looking up at her. “Why did _you_ send Xion to ask _me_ what heterosexuality was?”

            Naminé huffed, and crossed her arms. “Are you _serious?!_ ”

            Lea shrugged. “All’s fair in love and war.”

            Naminé growled, and pressed her hands against her temples. “I _HATE_ you!” She turned, and left the room.

            “No, you don’t!” Lea called after her.

            “No, I don’t, but screw you anyway!” she called back. Lea grinned. Cold or lukewarm, revenge tasted sweet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I've never burned my textbooks. But apparently my father did when he was in high school. Not out of any dislike of the courses, but apparently because it's what everyone else was doing. It didn't do much for him in terms of catharsis. Peer pressure is bad, kids.  
> [Seasons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC-uN6fWhDQ) isn't my favourite Dragonforce song, but it's the one that came to me when I needed it most. I'd had the album for a couple years at that point, but I'd never really fully appreciated the song until that moment. And that's where the title comes from. (By the way, the version linked in the beginning notes is the acoustic version, and the version linked here in the end notes is the original. The acoustic version is more the mood I'm going for here. Plus, I kind of like it more.)  
> Please don't take my word for it on the fire safety! I was in Scouts as a kid, so to the best of my memory it's accurate (including the stuff about pine wood. We were always cautioned to never burn it because of the sap. So I cringe a little whenever someone, either in writing or a podcast, says their characters find some pine trees to collect firewood from. _Don't do that_.) However, I didn't check to make sure, so everything with a grain of salt.  
> And yes, it appears Lea has heard that old Klingon proverb that revenge is a dish best served _cold_. But, he's not a "cold" kind of guy. Can you blame him?  
> Until next time!


	6. Catch-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naminé makes an attempt to stay in pace with everyone else as regards her Keyblade training

            Aqua yawned.

            She’d sent Xion to bed half an hour ago, and was taking a short walk around the Tower while she finished her tea. Ven would be proud of her; it wasn’t even midnight yet.

            Xion’s idea had been inspired, though as of yet they’d had no further luck. It was, at least, easier to go through storybooks than dry historical texts and essays on hearts and darkness. Xehanort _would_ be the type of asshole who enjoyed that sort of thing.

            As she walked past the Tower’s little-used gymnasium, she was a bit startled to hear the sound of exertion. Crossing her fingers and hoping it wasn’t what she thought it was, Aqua tentatively pushed open the door.

            It was not, as she had feared, Kairi with either or both of her boys. Why she had assumed that it would be, she didn’t know; they had their own room, why would they use the gym for… anyway, it wasn’t them. 

            It was Naminé.

            As Aqua watched, Naminé ran through the sequence she’d taught her, but at twice the speed Aqua had asked for in their last group training session. And to her credit, as far as Aqua could tell, her form was perfect. However, there was a certain desperation in Naminé’s movements.

            She finished the sequence, shook herself a bit, and immediately started it again, from the top. Carefully, Aqua inched her way into the room, silently closing the door behind her. Naminé didn’t seem to notice. As she finished the sequence again, Aqua spoke.

            “Your form is very good, but I think you might need to work on situational awareness.”

            Aqua smirked as Naminé gasped and spun around, hiding her Keyblade behind her back, where the palette stuck up from the back of her head, waving slightly. “Aqua?!” she said. “How long have you been there?!”

            “Just from the start of the last run-through you did,” Aqua said, still smiling. “I don’t recall saying you had to be that quick, though.”

            Naminé relaxed a bit, and looked down at the floor. “Well… I have a lot of catching up to do,” she mumbled.

            Aqua frowned. “What do you mean?”

            Naminé sighed. “Aqua… I can’t rely on being able to rig a gimmicky card system every time I get into a fight. I have to know how to fight properly. Like everyone else does. I can’t even…” she trailed off, and sighed again. “I can’t even do magic properly. Blizzard is the only thing I can do.”

            “So, that’s why you’re still training this late at night?” Aqua asked.

            “Yeah,” Naminé said. “I have to make up the difference somehow.”

            Aqua bit her lip. “Naminé… If you want, I could at least try to teach you the magic you don’t know.”

            Naminé’s eyes widened. “Really? I mean, I know you’re really busy with the research and everything, and–”

            “I’m not that busy,” Aqua said, amused. “And Ven and I have Xion helping us now, too.” She walked over to a bench on the side of the gym floor and sat down, motioning Naminé to join her. “Besides which… by rights, I _should_ be teaching you.”

            “What do you mean?” Naminé asked, joining her.

            “Even if accidentally, I gave Kairi the power of the Keyblade. That means I should have been her Keyblade Master,” Aqua said. “I was… indisposed at the time, obviously, and Kairi had to get her training somewhere else. But… Kairi wasn’t the only person I passed the Keyblade to that day.”

            Naminé pondered this for a second, then her eyes widened in realization. “You mean… me?”

            Aqua smiled, and nodded. “I do. And, if you’re willing, I would love to formally have you as my apprentice.”

            The response wasn’t quite what Aqua had anticipated. Naminé stared at her like a deer caught in headlights. “I mean, after this thing with Xehanort is over, and we actually have time for things to go back to normal,” Aqua added, starting to blush a little. “Are you okay?”

            Naminé was also starting to redden. So fast that Aqua thought she’d have missed it if she blinked, Naminé lunged forwards and seized her in a hug. Aqua tenderly wrapped her arms around her. “Is… that a yes?” she asked, smiling.

            “ _Yes!_ ” Naminé gasped. “Yes, of course! Aqua, I…!”

            Aqua laughed, and patted her on the head. “I’ll make time in a bit to start teaching you magic.”

            “Thank you!” Naminé whispered. It was muffled a bit by the way her face was pressed against Aqua’s torso.

            “In the meantime, though,” Aqua added, still smiling. “I think I know someone who can help you with fighting. Perhaps not very much, but she needs something to occupy her. Something meaningful.”

            Naminé frowned. “Oh? Who?”

 

 

            The next morning, Naminé opened the gymnasium door to find Aqua talking to Xion.

            “Come on in,” Aqua called. “I’m going to have you two spar for a bit.” She motioned Naminé in and passed her a training sword.

            “Are you sure, Xion?” Naminé asked.

            Xion nodded, smiling confidently. “Hey, if there’s anything I know how to do, it’s fight people stronger than me. And live. Most of the time.”

            Aqua motioned to a crate set next to the wall. “I brought in some potions. I’m afraid I can’t stay to watch–”

            “That’s fine!” Naminé said. “…Speaking for myself, I don’t think this is going to be all that impressive.” Her voice lowered as she spoke.

            “Hey, don’t sell yourself short!” Xion said. “I’m sure you’ll surpass me.” There was also a low note to her voice, but it was disguised well, and Naminé wasn’t sure it was actually there.

            Aqua, evidently, missed it completely. “Then I’ll be in the library if you need to find me,” she said, smiling. “Knock yourselves out!” A look of horror passed over her face. “I mean… don’t _actually_ knock each other out, and if an accident happens, come get me imme–”

            “We’ll be fine, Aqua. Thank you,” Naminé said, grabbing her arm and gently pushing her towards the door. She closed it behind her and turned back to Xion.

            “So… how do you want to go about this?” she asked her, a little embarrassed now that it was happening.

            Xion shrugged. “I guess we could just… start, and see where things go from there?”

            Naminé frowned. “Yes, I guess, but I want it to be helpful for you, too. I may be inexperienced, but–”

            “Hey, that’s not your fault! I’ve never really done this before either!” Xion said. “And I don’t want it to be a bad experience for you, either! That’s… why I’m a bit nervous, actually,” she admitted.

            Naminé shook her head. “You don’t have to be. I’m sure it’ll be fine as long as we’re doing it together.”

            They looked at each other for a second, then both burst into laughter. “Kairi is a bad influence,” Naminé said, giggling.

            “Her, or Sora,” Xion agreed. “Anyway…” She lifted her sword into a ready position. Naminé took a deep breath, and lifted her own.

            The first couple of strikes were light, Xion testing Naminé’s defenses. They followed the pattern Aqua had set them, and Naminé could easily keep up with them. Then, Xion started to alter her strikes. Slowly at first, so that Naminé could still keep up, then faster as Naminé matched her new pattern.

            “You’re doing good!” she said, smiling. Naminé smiled back, and Xion dropped low, slashing at her ankles.

            “Ah!” Naminé gasped as the wood struck her. Xion straightened back up and wagged a finger. “But enemies aren’t going to give you a chance to warm up. You have to be able to think on your feet. If you want to keep your feet.”

            Naminé glared at her, rubbing her shin. Xion smirked. “Again?”

            Naminé straightened up and lifted her sword again. The two girls circled each other, Xion still smirking like she knew something Naminé didn’t. It was a psychological trick, Naminé knew, and she didn’t fall for it.

            The swords clashed, again and again, Naminé still on the defensive. “You know, you’re not going to get anywhere if you’re always defending,” Xion said, frowning.

            Naminé shrugged. “It’s worked so _far!_ ” In the middle of the sentence, she lunged forwards, sliding in through Xion’s guard and tapping her on the head.

            Xion laughed. “Hey, that’s _my_ trick!”

            Naminé smiled. “They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

            “Well, I’ve very flattered,” Xion giggled, and the two engaged again. Naminé’s world became a flurry of waving swords and clacking of wood against wood. Eventually, the two broke apart again, breathing hard.

            “Okay, I need a break,” Xion gasped. They’d been fighting for almost a solid hour.

            “Agreed,” Naminé panted. “How am I doing?”

            Xion shrugged as she moved over to the side of the gym and sat down on the floor, leaning against the padding on the wall. “As far as I’m any judge, pretty well. Though I can’t exactly fight as hard as I possibly can against you. Water?” She held out a bottle and Naminé gratefully accepted it as she sat down next to her.

            “Why, because I’m still new at this? I promise I won’t break if you go a little harder,” Naminé teased.

            Xion stilled a little bit, enough that Naminé noticed. “No, because I…” She trailed off.

            Naminé suddenly realized she’d made a faux pass. “Oh, because… I’m sorry.”

            Xion shook her head. “It’s okay.” They sat in an awkward silence for a while.

            “I have to admit I’ve been... jealous, of you,” Xion said eventually. 

           “Of me?” asked Naminé. “Why?” 

            Xion shrugged. “Because you have your Keyblade, and I... don’t. You didn’t even _have_ one before. But you do now. Roxas has his, Vanitas has his... the only one who had a Keyblade before and doesn’t still have it… is me.” 

            “I’m sure it will come back,” Naminé started to say, but there was a flash of anger in Xion’s eyes, barely reigned in. 

            “ _So you say_. So _everybody_ says,” she muttered, and sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you. But do you have any idea what it’s like, being told to just _wait_ for something that might not even happen?” 

            Something twinged in Naminé’s gut. “Yes, I do,” she said, quietly. “And you’re right, it does get worse when you’re waiting and wanting, and it doesn’t happen.” 

            Xion looked over at her and frowned. “Are you okay?” 

            Naminé sighed. “I have a confession, too. I’ve been jealous, too. Of you. And of Kairi.” 

            “What for?” Xion asked. 

            Naminé smiled, sadly. “Because you two are in relationships, and I’m not. Not with Roxas in particular,” she added, hastily, lest Xion get the wrong idea, “but just in general. You’re all happy, and I’m... alone.” 

            “It’s not a ‘what’ that you were waiting for, was it?” Xion asked, softly. “It was a ‘who’.” 

            Naminé nodded. “Her name was Vanille,” she said, and slowly explained the circumstances of their first meeting, and of their last meeting, to Xion. 

            “Naminé, I’m so sorry, that’s horrible!” Xion said once she was done, and threw her arms around her. Naminé wiped the last of the tears out of her eyes and hugged Xion back, grateful. 

            “Thank you,” she whispered. “And that’s why I’m jealous. Because I could’ve had what you do... because I _want_ what you have... but things fell through.” 

            “But... just because things didn’t work out with Vanille, that doesn’t mean you’ll never find love again,” Xion protested. 

            “I know that,” Naminé acknowledged, “but I don’t want to start looking until after we defeat Xehanort. Things are too chaotic right now for me to be thinking about that sort of thing.” 

            There was silence for a second as Xion considered this, but eventually she shook her head and said, “Bullshit.” 

            “Huh?” 

            “I’m saying that’s bullshit, Naminé. Why are you _waiting_ to be happy? There might not _be_ an ‘after Xehanort’, for any of us. You have an opportunity _right_ _now_ to find what you want. Why aren’t you taking it?” Her forehead furrowed in contemplation. “Or, should I be asking, ‘why don’t you _want_ to take it?’” 

            “I...” Naminé said, and sighed. “Because... I’m not ready. I’m... not over her yet. And I’m starting to get scared that I never will be. That I’m just going to go through life... broken.” 

            “Being able to love doesn’t mean you’re broken!” Xion protested. “When someone makes an impact on you like that, no matter for how short or long, you’ll always carry a part of that with you. And that’s okay! Missing her doesn’t mean you’re not moving on! Are you still waiting for her?” 

            “What? No, that can’t happen.” 

            “But... do you want it to happen, if it could?” 

            “I... yes. But I can’t torture myself waiting for it anymore!” Naminé’s voice had risen without her noticing. 

            “Then you need to take the first step!” Xion said back, matching her tone. 

            “I’m not ready!” 

            “That’s fine! You’ll know when you are! But not being ready to find someone new doesn’t mean you’re not moving on from where you were!” To Naminé’s surprise, Xion started to laugh. “Light, Naminé, we’re both still so young. We’ve got so much ahead of us.” 

            Slowly, Naminé smiled, and despite herself, started to laugh as well. “You’re right. Here we are, grappling with impossible-to-solve interpersonal dilemmas, and we’re literally two years old.” 

            “Hey! We’re almost three!” Xion pointed out, laughing harder. “Plenty of time for things to work out.” 

            Naminé took hold of her hand. “That goes for you and your Keyblade, too, you know. Right?” 

            Xion sighed. “You know I’m just going to say that’s different, right? I need it if I’m going to fight. I feel... useless, without it.” 

            “I’m sure you’ve heard everyone say that your worth to us isn’t based on whether you have a Keyblade or not,” Naminé said, and Xion nodded agreement. “But, the thing is, your worth to _yourself_ can’t be based on whether or not you have a Keyblade, either. Honestly, Xion, this is sounding like a self-worth problem. And getting your Keyblade back isn’t going to make that go away.” 

            Xion looked down at her boots, not answering. 

            “Tell you what,” Naminé said. “I know someone who you can talk this out with. You know her, too. And I’ll make you a Light Corridor to the Destiny Islands any time you want.”

            “You really think she won’t mind?” Xion asked.

            “Does Lea mind when you talk to him?” Naminé asked, with a smile. “I know it’s hard to reach out. And it took me a long time to realize this myself, but being able to reach out like that is part of having people who love us.”

            Xion smiled. “Naminé? Thank you. You’re a good big sister.”

            “Big – why am I the big sister?” Naminé spluttered.

            “You’re like a month older than me,” Xion said matter-of-factly. “Congrats, Nam, you’re the middle child. And I’m the baby.”

            Naminé snorted. “All right, fine, fair enough. How are you feeling? Ready to get back to it?”

            Xion raised an eyebrow. “You really like being hit with a stick that much?”

            “I have to wonder. I’m _pretty_ sure I’m not a masochist. Besides, it’s not the pain, it’s the learning that I’m in it for,” Naminé said, rising to her feet.

            “What’s a masochist?” Xion asked, joining her.

            Naminé froze, remembering the sexuality debacle and realizing what a conversational land mine she’d just stepped on. Sending her to Lea wasn’t an option this time. “Uh… it means…”

            But Xion was starting to laugh. “You s-should see the look on your face!” she choked out. “Relax, Naminé, I know what masochism is.”

            “…Why do you know that?” Naminé asked, now very confused and a little alarmed.

            Xion seemed to suddenly realize what she had said. “Because… reasons,” she said, turning red. “Hey, want to get back to fighting and not talking?”

            “Yes, I would like that very much,” Naminé said, also reddening. They took up their stances, and set back to work.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, sometimes the hardest part of this is figuring out what to write for the end notes. Sometimes, there's pretty much nothing to say other than what's there in the text.  
> Yeah, this is one of those times. So if you're thinking to yourself "Sannae, are you writing an end note about how you don't know what to write for an end note?", you're absolutely correct.  
> Small things. Aqua being Naminé's Keyblade Master since she missed the boat for Kairi has been the plan since around Land of Oblivion, I think? It's been a while. Though it won't be official until after Xehanort's dead.  
> Part of this was written on my phone, because sometimes you get conversations popping in your head that you have to write down or risk losing. I've come up with the text of entire fics at work and had to recreate them from scratch later on. It's simultaneously fun and horrible. So, from the line "I've been jealous of you" to "I'll make you a way to Destiny Islands whenever" required reformatting. _They all still have Sora's mother!_ (Who is technically also Xion's mother, if you think about it, but Xion doesn't consider her to be her mother, because Roxas _does_ consider her his mother, and with them dating, that'd be weird. Still a mother-figure, though).  
> Also, I'm sure nobody actually noticed this, but I want to point it out in case someone did. Yes, Xion's grammar is imperfect. Trust me, it's intentional. Roxas's is, too. I think it makes sense that it would be, considering their upbringing. Just wanted to point that out.  
> Anything else...? I don't think so, but as always, feel free to ask anything in the comments.  
> Next week is Vanitas again. And no, the original plan wasn't to alternate Vanitas and Xion chapters, but there being Xion chapters at all wasn't the original plan. Which is a very long way of saying yes, it's on purpose.  
> Until next time!


	7. The Most Powerful Motivator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku sends Vanitas to an unlikely teacher to fill a gap or two in his knowledge

            “Ow, fuck!”

            “Are you all right? Let me see.” Riku leaned towards Vanitas, who begrudgingly extended his arm.

            “It’s just a cut. It’s fine,” he muttered. Riku frowned.

            “Why keep an injury when you can just fix it?” he asked. “Do you want a potion? Or do you want me to–”

            “I said it’s fine!” Vanitas barked. He yanked his hand away and stepped back.

            Small injuries were common during training. What was uncommon was Vanitas’s refusal to get them looked at. Riku understood why, of course. People caring about his bodily wellbeing was new and confusing. Plus, it was understandable that he didn’t want other people trying to fix his injuries.

            But that left him with a dilemma.

            “You know… it might make this all easier if you learned Cure,” Riku offered. “Roxas told me,” he added, at Vanitas’s angered and confused look.

            “Figures,” Vanitas muttered. “Why would I want to learn Cure?”

            “Did you really just ask me that?” Riku deadpanned. They stared at each other for a minute until Vanitas broke eye contact.

            “Can you… teach me?” he muttered, begrudgingly.

            Riku hesitated. “I _could_ , but… I only learned it myself recently. If you want someone to teach you, you might want to ask someone with a lot more experience, with Cure in particular and magic in general.”

            Vanitas nodded, slowly, considering. “Who, then?”

            Riku continued to hesitate. The curiosity on Vanitas’s face abruptly turned to fury. “No. _Absolutely_ not. There’s _no way_ I’m going to ask–!”

 

 

            “Aqua, do you have a minute?” Vanitas ground out.

            Aqua looked up from her book to regard him, expression unimpressed, then looked back down at the book. “No.”

            Aqua had taken to doing her reading in the library itself today, instead of entrenching herself in the study. This was good, as it was essentially neutral ground for Vanitas to make his request.

            “I don’t know Cure,” Vanitas continued as if she had agreed to listen. “And Riku thinks you’re the best person to teach me.”

            “Really? Good for him,” Aqua said, not looking up.

            Vanitas ground his teeth together. “Aqua, if I’m going to be helping, I need to know this.”

            Aqua looked back at him. “I’m sure there are books on the subject. We’re in a library; you can help yourself.”

            Anger flared up and Vanitas clenched his fist. It wasn’t malice, he reminded himself, it was ignorance. She wasn’t deliberately insulting him, she just didn’t know. With difficulty, he pushed the anger down, and said, “Aqua, I can’t read.”

            That got her attention. “What do you mean you can’t read?” she asked, looking back over at him with confusion instead of hostility in her eyes.

            Vanitas shrugged. “It sounds pretty self-explanatory to me,” he said. “I don’t know how to read.”

            The look Aqua was giving him was now as much shock as it was confusion. “Why don’t you know how to read?”

            Vanitas rolled his eyes. “At what point do you think I’d have needed to know how to read?”

            Aqua frowned. “…Fair point. Xehanort wouldn’t have taught you. In fact he probably didn’t teach you on purpose to keep you dependant on him,” she murmured, half to herself. “…that’s also why you don’t know Cure, isn’t it?” she added, softly.

            Stiffly, Vanitas nodded. “Yep. Got it in one. What a smart girl,” he said through gritted teeth.

            For once Aqua didn’t rise to it. “So… every time I beat you senseless…”

            Vanitas’s eyes narrowed. “Yep.”

            Aqua looked back at the book. “…I’m not apologizing.”

            “Neither am I. What’s passed is past,” Vanitas said, shortly. “Are you going to teach me Cure or not?”

            Aqua looked at him, then back at the book, then back to him, and seemed to decide something. “No.”

            “Well, fuck you anyw–”

            “Language. And if you’d let me finish, you’d know that I meant not right now. I’ve already promised Naminé to teach her magic she doesn’t know. She also doesn’t know Cure. So we’ll start with that and you can join in. But first…” she trailed off and seemed to centre herself. “First, I’m going to teach you how to read.”

            Vanitas blinked. “Why would I want to know how to read?”

            Aqua also blinked, in apparent confusion. “Why _wouldn’t_ you?”

            Vanitas shrugged. “Never needed it before.”

            Aqua shook her head. “What happens if you run into an area that’s going to kill you, and you can’t read the posted warning signs?”

            “Then I guess I die,” Vanitas said sarcastically, but to his irritation he saw her point. “Why do _you_ want to teach me, though? Thought you hate me.”

            Aqua looked at him with her lips pressed in a thin line. “Oh, trust me, Vanitas, I do. But, this is something Xehanort never taught you.” Slowly, she smiled a humourless smile. “And I want to spite _him_ more than I hate _you_.”

            This… made sense to Vanitas. If there was one thing he understood, it was spite. He matched her smile with one of his own. “Then I guess I can try to stay awake while you prattle on.”

            Aqua snorted. “Sit down. I need different books for this. I’ll be back in a second.” She rose, and Vanitas sat down in the chair next to the one she had vacated.

            “Guess we’re doing this now,” he muttered.

 

 

            “All right, so these letters are?”

            “‘V’, ‘A’ …‘N’?”

            “Yes, that’s an ‘n’.”

            “‘I’, ‘T’, another ‘A’, ‘S’.”

            “And that spells?”

            Vanitas stared at the letters on the paper in front of him, then looked back up at Aqua. “Is that my name?”

            Aqua nodded. “Yes, it is. Well done.” There was a slight curvature to her lip, and if Vanitas hadn’t known better he’d have thought it was a smile.

            Aqua cleared her throat and Vanitas jerked his gaze away from her face. They’d been at this for hours, he suddenly realized, and yet the time had simply flown by. He was actually… enjoying himself.

            The thought almost made him retch. Enjoying himself with Aqua present? It sounded wrong, somehow. But it was true.

            Aqua’s expression had remained almost unreadable throughout. There was a bit of surprise as she slowly realized how eager of a student Vanitas was. At least when the subject was something he actually wanted to learn.

            And he _did_ want to learn to read, and write as well once Aqua had realized the two went hand in hand, if only for the same reason Aqua had wanted to teach him. Xehanort had tried to deny him this. But the old man could go fuck himself. It was another way, Vanitas realized, that he was becoming _more_. Xehanort had never intended for him to have this skill. And he was getting it anyway.

            “All right. Enough of the easy stuff. Give me something hard,” he said, dismissive.

            Aqua’s eyebrow twitched. “If you say so. A complete sentence, then.” She pulled the paper back towards her and scribbled something out.

            “Only three words?” Vanitas asked, a little irritated.

            “We walk before we run,” Aqua responded, in the same tone.

            “Whatever.” Vanitas squinted at the paper. “ ‘G’. ‘O’. ‘F’. And there’s a break in between… ‘U’, ‘C’.” He paused, trying to remember the next one. “Oh, ‘K’! Then ‘Y’, another ‘O’, another ‘U’, ‘R’, ‘S’… ‘E’, that one’s an ‘L’, and another ‘F’.”

            “Correct. And what does that spell?” Aqua asked. There was a note in her voice that Vanitas couldn’t place.

            Vanitas pursed his lips, trying to chase down all the letters in his mind. “It spells… it spells…”

            And then he realized.

            “Aqua,” he asked slowly. “Did you just tell me to go fuck myself?”

            Aqua was idly investigating a perfectly clean nail. “Did I? Is that what it spells?”

            Anger surged up through Vanitas, and he clenched a fist, but all of a sudden it faded as another thought struck him. “Aqua,” he asked coyly, starting to leer, “did you just teach me how to _write_ ‘go fuck yourself’?”

            Aqua froze, then leaned on the table, one hand pressed against her forehead and obscuring her eyes. “Oh, _shit_ ,” she said, then looked incredibly guilty.

            Vanitas started to laugh. “Why Aqua, mind your language,” he mocked. “It’s not polite for a prim-and-proper Keyblade Master to use such profanity.”

            Aqua glared at him. “You’re right, it’s not.” She straightened up. “And I guess that means I’m not such a prim-and-proper Keyblade Master after all. I have just one thing to say to you, and I want you to know I mean this from the very depths of my being.” She took a deep breath, and placed a hand on Vanitas’s shoulder. “Vanitas, go fuck yourself.”

            Vanitas grinned. “Oh, don’t hold back. Tell me how you _really_ feel.” His smile faded as he leaned back. “Guess the lesson’s over then, huh?” he muttered.

            Aqua frowned. “No? We still have more to work on.”

            “But you just said–”

            “Yes, and?”

            Vanitas blinked. “You hate me.”

            Aqua nodded. “Yes.”

            “You said I should go fuck myself.”

            “Better you than me,” Aqua deadpanned.

            “But the lesson’s not over?”

            Aqua shrugged. “We’re not done yet. And I don’t like giving up on a task before it’s done.”

            “Oh, am I a task?” Vanitas deadpanned.

            Aqua glared at him. “You are quite tasking, yes.”

            “Not what I asked.”

            Aqua sighed. “Teaching is the task. You, as a person, are not a task.”

            There was an odd, warm feeling deep in the pit of Vanitas’s heart, but he ignored it.

            “Shall we get back to it?” Aqua asked. She took the paper again. “Let’s try an actual challenge this time.”

            Vanitas watched her as she wrote. There was something about Aqua that he couldn’t put his finger on. Something about her that fascinated him. He thought he’d known everything there was to know about her. That she was light-happy and weak and beneath his notice. Each of those had been proven wrong. And he was slowly starting to realize that he truly knew nothing about who she was at all.

            He noted with a hint of disgust that the thought of learning more about her wasn’t… unpleasant.

            Regardless, he was learning. He was becoming stronger. Even if not in a way he had expected.

 

 

            It was late at night by the time Aqua called a halt, citing a need to be up early the next morning. “But, you’ve made great strides, even in a single lesson,” she admitted. “You’ve… done a good job.”

            Vanitas’s lip twitched. “Then I guess I should get going,” he said, and got up from the table.

            “Wait,” Aqua said, and pushed another book towards him. “Take this. Practice when you get a second.”

            Vanitas looked at the title. “‘PIGS’?” he asked, skeptically.

            Aqua shrugged. “It’s a children’s book. So I’m afraid you might find it a little inane. But it’ll be easy enough to practice with.”

            Vanitas rolled his eyes, but took the book. He walked to the door and paused in the frame. “Aqua…” he looked back, but was unable to make eye contact with her. He steeled himself. This was going to take a lot of resolve.

            “Th… thank you.”

            Aqua’s eyes widened in shock, but she merely nodded. “You’re welcome, Vanitas. Naminé and I are having the Cure lessons the day after tomorrow. If you’re interested, be there.” He nodded, and turned to leave. “And…” she added, and he looked back. “…If you wanted more reading lessons… feel free to ask.”

            It was Vanitas’s turn to be shocked. “Whatever,” he said, to cover the shock, and he turned, and left. The warm feeling was back in his heart, and it was starting to irritate him that he didn’t know what it was or why it kept happening.

            But, that was a question for another day. He wondered, in a rare-moment of self-reflection as he tried to fall asleep that night, what it was going to take for him to stop feeling the knee-jerk revulsion whenever he enjoyed himself. Aqua couldn’t be the common denominator. She wasn’t… really… all that bad.

            “Fuck I’m going soft,” he mumbled as he drifted off.

            Still. There were worse things to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know for a fact I'm not the first person to do "Aqua teaches Vanitas to read". But hopefully I'm the first person to do it in quite this way.  
> I had the idea for this chapter in mind for quite some time, but the specifics were inspired by the Ninja Sex Party song "GFY". Guess what it's about. No, go on, guess.  
> I should probably quantify Aqua's language choices, huh? The way I'm having it, Aqua doesn't swear under normal circumstances, _but_ can and will if she's pushed to an emotional extreme. If she's baseline at a 5, then simply being around Vanitas pushes her to about an 8. (on a 1-10 scale). Here, she decides that "hey, he doesn't care if I swear, I don't care what he thinks of me, so it doesn't matter." So she's free to tell Van whatever she wants.  
> PIGS is a real book. I could let you try to find it yourselves, but that would be kind of cruel, even for me. The real-life book in question is by Robert Munsch; a childhood favourite.   
> I think that about covers it! I'll be going on a family trip this weekend, so I'm not going to be able to reply to comments until Sunday evening (EST) at the earliest, but as always, feel free to ask about anything!


	8. A Matter of Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqua attempts to teach Cure to Naminé and Vanitas.
> 
> It goes about as well as you'd expect.

            There were times, when things were starting to get overwhelming, when Naminé would ask herself what Sora would do.

            Sora was probably the most optimistic person Naminé knew, thought she hadn’t spent much time with Ventus yet. So trying to think of what Sora would do would always lead to a silver lining of some sort.

            Right now, the silver lining still felt kind of dark. “They haven’t killed each other yet” and “Things could be going worse” weren’t very encouraging thoughts.

            Naminé sighed, and looked between Aqua and Vanitas. Aqua had warned her beforehand that Vanitas would be joining in on their magic lesson in order to learn Cure. Naminé had agreed, remembering the glimpse into his psyche her drawing had given her and hoping that this might be an opportunity to calm the waters between all three of them.

            The first thing Vanitas had done when the lesson began was ask where the knife was. It had gone summarily downhill from there.

            “Fire!” Naminé said, pointing her Keyblade at the target and holding it steady while absolutely nothing happened. She frowned, angered.

            “Keep trying,” Aqua urged. “Eventually, it’ll click.”

            “Or it won’t,” Vanitas said. “But hey, can’t account for a shit teacher.”

            Aqua’s jaw clenched, but she ignored him. “Take a deep breath. Relax. It’ll come.”

            Vanitas scoffed. And for some reason, that was the last straw. “What?!” Aqua demanded, rounding on him. “Did I say something you _disagree_ with?”

            Vanitas didn’t look at her. “Fire comes from anger. Pushing it up, pushing it out. That’s how _I_ was taught.”

            “You also thought I had to stab you to teach you Cure,” Aqua pointed out, with barely contained irritation. “Maybe, just _maybe_ , you could step back and think about Xehanort’s teaching methods as compared to mine, and how and most importantly _why_ they differ. Might be educational.” With that, she turned back to Naminé.

            Vanitas’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t respond, instead moving over to the wall and leaning against it. Sulking, Naminé assumed.

            She shook herself. Unless he invited her in, Vanitas’s issues weren’t hers to try to solve. She aimed at the target once more and concentrated. “Fire!”

            Absolutely nothing happened. “Gah!” Naminé yelled, and tossed her Keyblade at the target. She crossed her arms, fuming, only uncrossing them to catch the unintentional Strike Raid.

            “…Let’s take a break,” Aqua decided. “You both look like you need one.”

            “I’m fine, fuck off,” Vanitas snapped.

            Aqua arched an eyebrow. “Oh really. Let’s see a Cure, then.”

            Vanitas glared at her, huffed, and turned back away. He’d been having as much trouble with the spell as Naminé had with the elemental spells; Cure was the only thing she’d picked up immediately. Seeing her success likely hadn’t helped his mood.

            Gratefully, Naminé banished her Keyblade and sat down. Aqua tossed her a water bottle and an ether. She downed both, and sat back.

            “I have to wonder if maybe I just can’t do it,” she said. “Kairi can’t seem to do Blizzard, and I know there’s some spells Sora just can’t do.”

            Aqua shook her head. “One or two, maybe, sure, but every single elemental spell? I have a hard time believing it.”

            “Yeah, aren’t you supposed to be a _witch_ or something?” Vanitas mocked.

            There was silence.

            Aqua stood up, slowly walked over to Vanitas, and grabbed him by the scruff of his collar. “Naminé, are you going to be okay if I have a word in private with him?” she asked, softly.

            “Aqua, you don’t have to, it’s f-fine,” Naminé said, but her voice quivered on the last word, and Aqua shook her head.

            “No,” she said, “No, I do have to. We’ll be right back.” She pulled Vanitas around the side of the Tower and out of sight.

            The second she couldn’t see them anymore, Naminé relaxed her control, and started shaking. Even after all this time, even after all she’d done, even after the girl named “Naminé” had more relations, more positions to her name… it still stung.

            “I am Naminé,” she murmured to herself, willing herself to stop shaking. “I am an artist, I am a friend, I am a sister, I am a daughter, I am a bearer of the Keyblade. I am more than it was ever thought possible I could be.”

            To her surprise, it helped. Slowly, the trembling stopped, and she leaned back against the wall, exhausted all over again.

            “‘I am me,’” she quoted, smiling ruefully. “‘No one else.’ Is that so, Roxas?” There was no reason why it couldn’t be true for her, as well. “Who I want to be. Not who anyone thinks I am. I am _me_.”

 

 

            Vanitas had the oddest sense of déjà vu as he was roughly shoved against the wall of the Tower. Idly, he wondered if Aqua was going to stab him anyway, and a tiny part of him wondered if she was going to give him ice cream.

            The look on her face said otherwise, but instead of the tongue lashing he was expecting, Aqua let out a long, slow breath. “Okay, explain.”

            “Explain what?” he huffed.

            “Two days ago you were in a great mood, you were enjoying yourself, you looked like you were having fun despite being in a room with _me_. Now, you’re being standoffish, snippy, and a general annoyance. What’s going on?” Aqua demanded. Her tone was harsh, but oddly enough she didn’t seem to be speaking out of anger.

            Vanitas shrugged. “Oh, you know me, Aqua. Heart of darkness, not a nice bone in my body. I’m just an asshole through and through.”

            Aqua sighed, and pressed the tips of her fingers against her temples, grinding them in small circles. “All right. Vanitas, that’s fucking bullshit and you know it,” she said, quietly. There was a bit of a pink flush on her cheeks from her word choice. It was a good look for her.

            “Excuse me?” Vanitas asked, sarcastically. Aqua shook her head.

            “No word games. Out with it, what’s wrong? What’s bothering you?” she asked.

            There was a small stab of something in Vanitas’s heart. Those were the last questions he had expected from Aqua, of all people. “…it’s different,” he murmured, not meeting her eyes.

            “What’s different?”

            “Her. It’s different.”

            Aqua arched an eyebrow. “If you’re telling me you have a crush on Naminé I have some bad news for you.”

            “Not like that!” Vanitas hissed. “It’s different… when it’s not just you. Or just Riku, or Roxas, or Donald.”

            Abruptly, Aqua seemed to understand what he was saying. “You mean… you don’t know her, so this is you putting up a wall. You don’t want to look vulnerable in front of her, because you don’t know her or trust her.”

            “Guess so,” Vanitas muttered. She was perfectly correct. Naminé scared him. It seemed like she _knew_ things, things she had no business knowing.

            Aqua sighed. She moved from her position in front of him to lean against the wall beside him. “So it’s like when you came to ask me to teach you.”

            “No,” Vanitas said. “She’s not like you. I don’t _get_ her. I know how _you_ think, Aqua. You’re predictable.” Or at least, he had thought she was.

            A flash of irritation crossed Aqua’s face, but her tone was steady as she replied. “Then you know what the solution is, Vanitas. Talk to her. Get to know her.”

            Vanitas scoffed. “Why would I want to get to know her?”

            “Two reasons. First, the more you know about something or someone, the less they’ll scare you,” Aqua said. “Second, I’m starting to think that’s code for ‘why would she want to get to know _me_?’” Vanitas involuntarily flinched. “Thought so. And I’m not going to give you a peptalk. You’re a brash, foulmouthed, violent asshole. Until a couple of days ago, I would’ve added ‘sociopath’ to that list. But, evidently that’s not the case.” She sighed. “Reach out. Even if your hand gets slapped away. And keep trying. That’s one way to make friends.”

            “Be an incessant annoyance?” Vanitas asked, incredulous.

            “Within reason. But persistence can work,” Aqua said, drily. “Look at Sora.”

            Her eyes widened in surprise as Vanitas chuckled. “I don’t think that’s going to work for me,” he said.

            Aqua blinked, still in shock from the laugh. It was something he himself had noticed; since realizing he had positive emotions, his laughter had sounded much more genuine than the hacking mockery he used to use. “Maybe not,” Aqua agreed, shaking her head and smiling despite herself. “But, find your own way.”

            Vanitas snorted. “Whatever, _mom_.”

            He was rewarded with a flash of temper. “Don’t call me that,” Aqua ground out, glaring at him. “Brat.”

            “Prude.”

            “Asshole.”

            “Bitch.”

            “Bastard.”

            “Cu–”

            She clapped a hand over his mouth. “Finish that word and I actually will have to stab you. On principle.” He could tell she was dead serious.

            He pulled her hand away from his mouth. “Fine, whatever.”          

            “Then I think you have something to say to Naminé,” she pressed.

            Vanitas glared at her. “Yeah, yeah.”

 

 

            Naminé looked up as Vanitas and Aqua came back into view. Stiffly, Vanitas walked over to her. “I’m… _sorry_ … I called you a witch,” he ground out, chewing over the unfamiliar word.

            Naminé nodded. “Don’t do it again, please.”

            Vanitas grimaced, and Aqua frowned at him. “Why make a promise I might not be able to keep?” he asked, directing the question at Aqua.

            “Try,” she said simply. “You’re capable of more than you think you are. At least, that’s what Ven believes.” She turned towards the Tower. “I’m going to get more ethers. Play nice.”

            “Fuck off, _mom_ ,” Vanitas mocked. Aqua glared at him, but left anyway.

            And then Naminé was alone with Vanitas.

            Vanitas kicked at the ground, not looking at her. “Aqua wants me to get to know you,” he mumbled.

            Naminé raised an eyebrow. “I’m flattered, Vanitas, but I’m afraid I have some bad news for–”

            “Not like that!” Vanitas growled. “Void, why are you all like this?”

            Naminé shrugged. “At least a little bit desperation, on my part. Not sure about Aqua. What do you want to know?”

            Vanitas shrugged, and slowly sat down. “Near” was a strong word for his location; he was almost six feet away from her. “I dunno.”

            The silence stretched out for a while, and Naminé was about to say something when Vanitas blurted, “How did you do that drawing?”

            “The one of you?” she asked. “Long story. I used to have the ability to see, read, and rewrite people’s memories. I lost that when I lost my original body; and I don’t miss it, because people used me to destroy Sora’s memories. In an attempt to control him.”

            “These the people who called you a w– that word?” Vanitas asked, gruffly.

            “Yes,” Naminé said.

            “They dead?”

            “One of them is. One of them has amnesia. One of them is unaccounted for. One of them is Lea. Though he never used that term.”

            “…This that Nobody thing you were talking about?”

            “Yes.”

            “Doesn’t sound like him.”

            “Axel was quite different. More like the way he acted the night he threatened you.”

            “…Oh. I get it.”

            “Lea is different, now. And he’s my friend.”

            Vanitas shifted. “If you don’t have the power anymore, how did you do it?”

            “I still have… I guess you could call it an unconscious empathy. I pick up on how people are feeling if I’m focusing on them, and it… guides my hand, I guess. Some representation of it shows up on the page. I don’t usually know I’m doing it until the drawing’s almost done.”

            Vanitas considered this. “I don’t like you… poking in my head,” he muttered.

            “I don’t like it either. But I’ll try not to draw you without at least asking first,” Naminé said.

            Slowly, Vanitas nodded. “I… appreciate it,” he said, and reddened.

            Naminé smiled. “Thank you for being open with me,” she said. Vanitas blushed further, and his scowl deepened as he felt it happen.

            “Out of curiosity, how exactly do you cast magic?” Naminé asked. “Your methods seem different.”

            “Pick the emotion that fits the spell, push it to the surface,” Vanitas said. “Fire’s easy, that’s just anger. Ice and lightning are harder. And I’ve never…” he cut himself off.

            “You’ve never..?” Naminé asked, curious.

            Vanitas looked down at the ground between his boots. “I can’t do Aero. At all,” he spat out. Naminé decided not to press the issue.

            Instead, she rose to her feet. “Anger, huh? Might as well try that,” she said, smiling. “Will you show me?”

            Vanitas looked confused. “You have to have seen someone cast Fire before.”

            “Not with your method,” Naminé said.

            Slowly, Vanitas rose to his feet. “Fine.”

 

 

            Naminé took a deep breath, and pointed her Keyblade at the target. A vision of DiZ’s sneering face swam through her mind, and a nearly-blinding red arose in her.

            “Fire!”

            And this time, this time… nothing continued to happen.

            “Fuck!” Naminé threw her Keyblade away, this time hard enough to embed it in the target.

            Vanitas shrugged. “Hey if Blizzard is the only thing you can for-sure do, maybe Fire is just something you can’t. Opposites, right?”

            “Much as I hate how this feels in my mouth,” Aqua said, drily, “he’s right.” She had rejoined them a couple minutes after Vanitas had demonstrated. “Maybe try a different spell?”

            Naminé tried Thunder, she tried Water, she tried Aero. Nothing, nothing, and nothing.

            “That’s… _very_ odd,” Aqua mused. “I wonder if…”

            “If what?” Vanitas asked, bur Aqua ignored him.

            “Naminé,” she asked, “Have you ever tried using spells like Sleep, or Haste?”

            “No?” Naminé said. “I know the King can do Stop spells, and I know you can do Sleep, but…”

            Aqua was slowly nodding. “Maybe you should. Try casting Sleep.”

            “Great idea! But there’s a slight problem,” Vanitas said, sarcastic. “A wooden target can’t fall asleep.”

            Aqua looked at him. “I didn’t mean on the wooden target.”

            There was a long pause. The colour slowly drained from Vanitas’s face.

            “I meant on me,” Aqua continued, looking back at Naminé.

            “Oh, you _bitch_ ,” Vanitas muttered.

            She smirked at him. “Language.”

            “On you, Aqua?” Naminé asked. “But… what if I can’t do it again, or make you wake up?”

            Aqua held out what looked like a small clay pot. “Then pour this down my throat.”

            Naminé took the Panacea, but still looked doubtful. “If you say so.”

            Aqua leaned in and put a hand on her shoulder. “You can do it. I believe in you, Naminé.”

            Naminé blushed. “Thank you, Aqua. All right.” She straightened her shoulders, and pointed her Keyblade at Aqua. “Sleep!”

            Slowly, Aqua’s eyes drooped closed, and she was asleep.

            And then the obvious problem occurred.

            Aqua toppled backwards, and would have fallen over if Vanitas hadn’t been standing right there. As it was, he was unprepared to catch her and wound up awkwardly holding her off-balance. “Shit,” he groused. “Well, congratulations,” he said to Naminé. “Now for fuck’s sake, wake her up, she’s heavy!”

            Hurriedly, Naminé rushed forwards and poured the Panacea down Aqua’s throat, not wanting to risk the comedy of errors that would occur from accidentally hitting Vanitas with another Sleep spell. Aqua yawned, and opened her eyes, and jolted out of Vanitas’s arms. Curiously, there was a pinkish tinge to Vanitas’s cheeks; but it made sense to Naminé, he’d probably not been expecting to get that close to Aqua.

            “Well, that looks like confirmation to me,” Aqua said once everyone had composed themselves. “It looks like your magical talents lie along the lines of status effect spells. Though, I’m sure you’ll be able to branch back out into elemental magic with time and experience,” she added.

            Naminé nodded. “This is fascinating. And honestly, I think this fits me more.”

            “So do I,” Aqua said, smiling. “This type of magic is usually referred to as ‘time magic’, though,” she frowned, “I’ve never understood why. ‘Support’ or ‘status’ magic would make more sense to me.”

            Vanitas shrugged. “If it’s shit like Stop and Slow, and Haste, it would make sense. Altering how you perceive time.”

            Aqua looked at him. “…I guess you’re right,” she said slowly, and grimaced like she’d eaten something sour. “Two in one day. Light.”

            “There’s a Stop-ed clock joke in there somewhere,” Naminé said, brightly. Aqua laughed. Vanitas didn’t, but Naminé was sure the turn of his head away from them was to hide a tiny smirk.

            It was a small start, perhaps, but it was one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know Sleep is Black Magic, not Time Magic. Sue me.  
> I also didn't bother checking if any of Vanitas's in-game abilities are wind-based. Honestly I'm not particularly concerned with being airtight with canon (pun not intended), so I'm willing to sacrifice accuracy in order to say that part and parcel with being torn out of Ven was Vanitas getting separated permanently from the element he was previously most attuned to. How much suffering and pain can this child hold? _So much_.  
> I want Naminé and Vanitas to be friends. They've got a lot in common, and will probably like each other if they give each other a chance. This is a chance.  
> As for Aqua and Vanitas... They're probably not going to kill each other at this point? Maybe? Hopefully? Why am I phrasing this as a question, I already know...  
> Until next week!


	9. Glass Houses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi suffers a horrible insult and decides to take matters of recompense into her own hands.

            “Oh, fucking hell. Again?!”

            Kairi poked at the coffee pot in irritation. It was empty. Bad enough that she had to be awake at the ridiculous hour of 9 AM, without _someone_ taking the last of the coffee and not making more. The Tower, for some reason, would only make the one pot per day. This might have been enough when it was just Yen Sid living there, but with thirteen people, even with some of them not drinking coffee, it was nowhere near enough.

            “Did it happen again, Kairi?” Naminé asked from behind her. She was much more of a morning person than her sister, but it did seem like she’d inherited Kairi’s taste for caffeinated beverages.

            “Of fucking course it did, Nam,” Kairi grumbled.

            “You shitting me? Again?” Lea poked his head in the kitchen door, looking almost as tired as Kairi felt.

            “We need to do something about this,” Kairi decided.

            “Make a fresh pot?” Naminé asked, drily.

            “ _That_ , yes, but I meant put our collective foot down,” Kairi said. “It’s not me doing it, and it’s not either of you, right?”

            Lea and Naminé shook their heads.

            “Then we’re getting to the bottom of this. One way… or another.”

 

 

            Kairi marched into the common room, a slightly confused Lea and Naminé following in her wake. “All right, we’re settling this now,” she declared.

            The residents of the room, pretty much everyone aside from Yen Sid, looked up at her. She brandished the empty coffee pot. “Who keeps doing this?”

            “Doing… what?” Sora asked.

            “Taking the last of the coffee and not making more,” Kairi explained.

            Sora and Riku glanced at each other. “It’s not us, Kai,” Riku said.

            “Yeah, we know better!” Sora agreed.

            “What do you mean you… you know what, I don’t want to know,” Aqua said, sounding a bit tired.

            Kairi turned to her. “Aqua?”

            She sighed. “No, it wasn’t me.”

            “Roxas?”

            “No.”

            “Xion?”

            “Wasn’t me.”

            “Your Majesty?”

            “Sorry, Kairi, not me!”

            “Donald?”

            “Uh-uh.”

            “Goofy?”

            “Nope, ‘fraid not.”

            “Ventus?”

            “No, it wasn’t me either.”

            “Vanitas?”

            “What’s coffee?”

            “Okay, so, none of you are going to fess up. I see,” Kairi said, her voice lowering. “Then I have no choice.”

            “No choice?” Aqua asked.

            Kairi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “ _Prank_ _war_.”

            “What are you talking abou–”           Roxas started to say, but he was cut off by a loud gasp from Sora.

            “Kairi… please, don’t do this,” Riku said. Xion and Aqua made eye contact. Riku sounded desperate. “They’re our _friends_.”

            “You say that like you’re exempt, Riku,” Kairi said, sweetly. “Of course, you can save everyone else. If you _fess up_.”

            “Okay, Kairi, you got me. It’s been me,” Sora began, but Kairi shook her head. “Sora, we both know your mom doesn’t let you have coffee. It’s not you.”

            Sora pouted. “Maybe… I started since we’ve been here?” he proposed, uncertainly.

            “You of all people wouldn’t break your mom’s rules,” Kairi said. “I appreciate the Spartacus act, but I know for a fact it wasn’t you.”

            “Why are you freaking out?” Ven asked. “How bad could this possibly get?”

            Slowly, Riku turned his head towards him. There was a dead look in his eyes, a fearful, tired look, a look that spoke of countless, unending horrors unspeakable to those who hadn’t experienced them. It was a look that said, in no uncertain terms, “it’s too late to run”.

            “Just a reminder before we begin, everyone, all the guilty party has to do is _fess up_ ,” Kairi said, tone still sweet. “Ladies, gentlemen, anyone that doesn’t cover… you’ll be hearing from us very soon.” With that, she turned, and ushered a still-very-confused Lea and Naminé out of the room.

            Silence fell.

            Roxas turned to Riku and Sora. “So… I’m guessing she’s done this before?”

            Slowly, they nodded.

            “Any advice?”

            Sora and Riku looked at each other, then back to Roxas. “If it was one of us, tell her. If it wasn’t…” Riku trailed off.

            “If it wasn’t, brace yourselves,” Sora said. “It’s gonna get worse before it gets better.”

 

 

            “All right, ground rules,” Kairi said. She had gathered Naminé and Lea into a side room. “Nothing that causes injury, nothing that harms people emotionally, no breaking anything important. Minor inconveniences only.”

            “Makes sense,” Lea agreed, nodding. “And only until someone admits it, right?”

            Kairi grinned. “No, until someone _fesses up_. It’s different.”

            “If you say so,” Naminé said, rolling her eyes.

            “Trust me!” Kairi said, beaming innocently. “This always works. The goal is to be annoying, but not hurtful. Speaking of which, anyone we should exclude?”

            “Vanitas,” Lea and Naminé both said, then looked at each other in mild surprise at the mutual agreement.

            Kairi nodded. “Fair point. No one else?”

            “We know Sora isn’t the culprit,” Naminé said.

            Kairi grinned. It was not a pleasant grin. “Oh, that means nothing to me. Pranking Sora is _fun_.”

            “Uh-huh,” Lea said, smirking. “I call dibs on Roxas and Xion, by the way. I have _ideas_.”

            “I can agree to that,” Kairi said. “Nam? You want anyone in particular?”

            Naminé shrugged. “No one in particular. Anywhere you want to point me, Kairi.”

            Kairi’s grin widened considerably. “Let’s have some fun.”

 

 

            Roxas yawned.

            He wasn’t sure if he was a morning person or not yet. The idea of sleep being necessary instead of just a period of enforced relaxation was still a bit novel, and there was always the fact that Xion typically woke up around the same time. Every morning started with a bit of cuddling. Life was good.

            He stepped into the bathroom and was immediately hit in the face by a stream of toilet paper.

            It hadn’t been used, it was straight off the roll. He stood there nonplussed for a while as it continued streaming at him. Upon closer inspection someone had set up a hairdryer to unravel and propel a roll of toilet paper towards whoever opened the door.

            The roll petered out, Roxas now draped in sheets of white. As he stood in the door trying to process what happened, Lea walked up behind him.

            “Kairi says I’m supposed to tell you to, and I quote, ‘ _fess up_ ’,” he said.

            “Axel,” Roxas said, at a loss for words, “ _why?!_ ”

            Lea shrugged. “Cause it’s fun. Gotta big brother you somehow.”

            “You know it’s not me leaving the coffee pot empty!”

            “Oh, I know. I taught you better than that. But, Kairi wants all bases covered. And we wouldn’t want to disappoint the dear princess, now would we?” Lea smirked. “Have fun cleaning up!”

            Roxas blinked. “Wait, but you made the mess. Wouldn’t cleaning it up yourself be the responsible thing?”

            Lea laughed. “Rox, come on. Me? Responsible? What gave you that idea?” He turned, and left, and was gone in the half-second it took Roxas to stick his head out the door.

            “Motherfucker,” Roxas grumbled, and set to cleaning up the paper.

 

 

            It was quiet for the rest of the day. As evening approached, Naminé found Ventus in the common room.

            “Hey, Ven, could you do something for me?” she asked, innocently.

            Ven, unfortunately, had had no experience with the type of person that Kairi, Lea, and Naminé all were. “Sure, Naminé, what do you need?”

            “Well, I found this in one of the rooms of the Tower, and I’m not sure what it is. Any ideas?” Naminé held out a bright red-orange object that had a set of lenses built into it. There was a white wheel at the top, and a pale orange lever on the side.

            Ven’s eyes widened. “Oh, I know what that is! It’s kind of like a portable slide-show! You look through the lenses, and when you pull the lever, the picture changes!”

            “Wow!” Naminé said. “Can you show me?” Her grin remained entirely innocent.

            “Absolutely!” Ven said, suspecting nothing. “Here, let me take a look.” He put his face up to the viewfinder. “Huh, looks like a bunch of pictures of Mickey… and a giant?” He flipped through a few. “Cool! Wonder what that was all about. Do you want to try?” He brought it down and offered it to her.

            Naminé took it back and checked to make sure it had worked. Sure enough, the black paint she had left around the lenses was now coated entirely around Ven’s eyes, and he hadn’t noticed a thing. She lifted the now-clean device to her own eyes and took a cursory glance through the reel. “Wow, this is really fascinating. Thanks for showing me, Ven!”

            “No problem!” Ven said, smiling.

            Naminé beamed back. “Two things, though.”

            “Two things?”

            “First, take a look in a mirror when you get a chance. And second, Kairi says ‘ _fess up_.’”

            “Huh?” Ven asked, but Naminé was already gone.

 

 

            “Gosh. Riku and Sora seemed really worried,” Mickey said. He, Donald, and Goofy were getting ready for bed in their room; like Aqua and Ven, they hadn’t shoved their beds together, though they hadn’t seen room dividers as necessary.

            “Aw, it’s prob’bly nothing,” Goofy said. “Kairi isn’t the sorta person who’d hurt someone.”

            “He’s right,” Donald agreed. “There’s not a mean bone in her body.” He slid his legs under the sheets and found them abruptly stopping before he could get more than his ankles in. “Huh?” He pushed against the blockage, to no avail, and eventually got out of bed to examine it more closely.

            Someone had taken the top sheet of his bed, stuck the top under the mattress, and lined up the bottom so that it was where the top would normally be, creating a pocket in the bed. “I don’t believe it,” Donald said, dumbfounded. “She short-sheeted my bed!”

            He glared as Mickey and Goofy started snickering. “Oh, laugh it up!” he groused. He pulled the bedding apart to fix it, revealing a tiny piece of paper: a note, in Kairi’s hand, that read “ _fess up_.”

            A small amount of steam issued from Donald’s ears. “Aw, come on, Don, it’s not like it’s a big deal. Just let her get it out of her system!” Goofy said as he climbed into his own bed. And stopped. And got out of the bed. And removed the sheets to reveal that his, too, had been short-sheeted, with a note left behind.

            Mickey started laughing harder. “Now, how much you wanna bet… yep!” He pulled back his own sheets to reveal that his bed was no exception. There was even his own note.

            “Gawrsh. When’d she have time to do all this?” Goofy asked.

            “Who knows?” Mickey said, smiling. “The real question is, what’re we gonna do to get her back?”

 

 

            Kairi crept back into her room, smirking to herself. Things were going well. The first strikes had been made, and things would only ramp up from here.

            She stopped in confusion, wondering why one of their beds was now pushed against the opposite wall. “Guys?” she asked, looking at Riku and Sora on the remaining two beds.

            They looked at each other, and then back to her, resolved. “Kairi, we’re sorry, but for as long as this is going on, you’re not allowed to sleep with us,” Riku said.

            “We haven’t slept together yet,” Kairi pointed out, leering.

            “Y-you know what we mean!” Sora said, blushing.

            “I do. Fair enough, guys. Have fun without me. Over here. Alone. On the other side of the room,” Kairi said, pouting as she stepped over to her bed.

            Sora looked at Riku pleadingly, but he shook his head. “She’s faking, Sora.”

            Kairi turned and stuck out her tongue. “Spoilsport.” She laid back on her bed.

            Sora sighed, and he and Riku went to pull back the covers on their remaining two beds.

            “…Kairi,” Riku said, half-frustrated, half-tired.

            “Yes, Riku?” she replied, sweetly.

            “…Did you cover our thirds of the bed in tinfoil?”

            “What’s wrong, Riku?” she asked. “… _foiled_ _again_?”

            Riku banged his head against the nearest pillow. “Every time. Every. Time. Every time, you do this, and you make the same. Dumb. Pun.”

            “I looooooveeee youuuuuuu!” Kairi called.

            “I love you, too. But you’re over there until you put a stop to this.”

            “I’ll put a stop to this when someone _fesses up!_ ”

            “Goodnight, Kairi.”

            “Goodnight, Riku! Goodnight, Sora!”

            “Goodnight, Kairi! …Are you going to help us unfoil the bed?”

            But Kairi was already asleep.

 

 

            Aqua pushed open the door of her study. It had taken time getting the paint off of Ven’s eyes, but fortunately Naminé had used a child-friendly, nontoxic brand. Kairi might be being ridiculous, but at least she was setting limits.

            Aqua took two steps into the room and froze.

            Her books were gone.

            In their place was a small note. She bent and retrieved it. It read, “Look up.”

            Cautiously, she raised her eyes to the ceiling. There were all of her books, all still in their stacks, all stuck to the ceiling with a Magnet spell. On the top of the tallest stack was another note, in the same handwriting: “ _Fess up!_ ”

            “All right, Kairi,” she muttered. “Two can play at this game.”

 

 

            The dining room door slammed open the next morning and Kairi strode in. “ _WHY?!_ ” she demanded. Her entrance was a surprise to everyone in the room, save one.

            Aqua, sitting at the table, slowly sipped her tea. “I believe the explanation Lea gave Roxas was ‘because it’s fun?’” she said, smirking.

            Lea and Naminé filed in behind her. Eyes widened. Sora and Riku looked at each other and winced. Roxas nodded appreciatively. Ven stifled a giggle. Vanitas rolled his eyes. 

            Kairi’s hair was now a dark green, the opposite of her normal auburn. Lea’s was bright gold. Naminé’s was a vibrant violet.

            “I’m more curious as to how, and if this is permanent?” Naminé asked. “Because I don’t _dislike_ it, but…”

            “Speak for yourself,” Lea muttered. “I look like something out of a cartoon.”

            “Yeah, but what about your hair?” Roxas asked innocently. Lea stuck out his tongue at him.

            “No, it’s not permanent, unless you wanted it to be,” Aqua said. “It’s the same colour spell I used on my own hair.”

            “Wait, your hair isn’t naturally blue?” Ven asked, shocked.

            She looked over at him, confused. “No, it’s… huh. I started doing this before we met, didn’t I. Let me see.” She waved a hand over her own head, and the blue faded into a dark black.

            “Wow,” Sora said. “That’s neat, Aqua!”

            Aqua noticed Vanitas staring at her. “Problem?”

            “With you? Always,” Vanitas snarked, and looked away. Aqua rolled her eyes and restored the blue.

            “Regardless, are you understanding yet that this is pointless, Kairi? It’s not going to get you what you want,” she said.

            Kairi scoffed. “Sounds like something someone who takes the last of the coffee and doesn’t make more would say.”

            Aqua rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Kairi, I drink tea.” She held up the cup and shook it a bit for emphasis.

            “You say that like the two are mutually exclusive,” Kairi scoffed.

            Aqua sighed. “Kairi, this is ridiculous.”

            Kairi’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, Aqua. You think this is some kind of _game_?”

            Aqua raised an eyebrow. “Yes?” Behind her, Sora and Riku were rapidly shaking their heads.

            Kairi started smiling. Or at least, her lips pulled back and bared her teeth. “I’m afraid not, Aqua. This is no game. This is _war_.”

            Aqua met her gaze, and gradually grew the same expression. “Very well, Kairi. Then _war_ is what you shall have.”

            “Did it just get worse?” Roxas whispered to Sora and Riku.

            Riku nodded. “Like I said, it has to before it gets better,” Sora whispered back. “But I’m sure nothing bad will happen.”

            Vanitas stared at the three of them. “Do you idiots have any idea what ‘jinxing it’ even _means_?” he asked at his normal volume.

 

 

            Later the same day, Aqua found Ven in the middle of the dormitory hallway. “Did they do something to our room, Ven?” she asked.

            Ven sighed. “Not… exactly?” he said.

            “What do you mean not ‘exactly’?” Aqua started to ask, then stopped as she looked at the wall.

            The wall where their room was supposed to be.

            Instead of the door, there was just more wall, with “ _fess up!_ ” scrawled on it in marker.

            “The funny thing is neither of us even drink coffee,” Ven mused. Aqua frowned. She stepped forwards and tapped the wall.

            “Sounds hollow,” she muttered. She pushed against it, and felt a little give. “Ven, help me find a seam.”

            It only took a couple seconds to find one, and they pulled back a tall sheet of cardboard painted to resemble the wall, revealing their door behind it. “Of course,” Aqua muttered.

            “At least it’s easy to fix, right?” Ven said, looking for the bright side.

            Aqua pursed her lips. “…right.”

 

 

            Xion stalked into the common room. _“LEA.”_

            Lea looked up from his magazine. “Yep? Oh, right. Kairi says–”

            “I fucking know what Kairi says,” Xion said, flatly. “What the hell?”

            “Don’t like it?” Lea asked. He had replaced Xion’s shampoo, and her hair was now starting to curl.

            “No, actually I kind of like it, but _still!_ ” Xion huffed. One of her locks fell in front of her face and she blew it away, pouting.

            Across the room, Roxas was effectively leaning on Ventus and Sora. “Have you… have you ever seen a girl so pretty you started crying?” he asked, softly.

            “Yeah…” Sora said in the same tone, looking at Kairi.

            “…No?” Ven said, confused.

 

           

            Naminé frowned at the array of coloured pencils in front of her. “Why are the yellows over here?” she whispered. “Why are the oranges over with the violets?”

            This wasn’t the order she had left them in. Someone had to have changed them around.

            There was a knock at her door. “Hey. Having trouble?” Roxas asked, sticking his head in.

            “Yeah, somebody reordered my…” Naminé trailed off. Roxas was trying very hard not to smirk. “You _jerk_.”

            “Hey, could be worse,” Roxas said, the smile on his face gradually widening. “I could be being cryptic about it for no reason.”

            Naminé flushed. “Out,” she said, pointing at the door.

            “I’m not in!” Roxas teased, indicating that his feet were still outside her room.

            “Out! Jerk,” she laughed, pushing at the door. Roxas let himself be shoved back into the hallway.

            “Oh, you might want this,” he said, muffled by the door. Naminé watched a forest green coloured pencil roll under the door and come to a stop against the foot of her bed.

            “I hate you!” she called through the door, snickering.

            “No, you don’t!” Roxas called back.

            “No, I don’t, but you’re a jerk!”

 

 

            “Is he really doing this right here, right now?” Aqua asked in a whisper.

            “Wherever he can, whenever he can,” Xion whispered back. “Honestly I wish we’d had a camera way back when.”

            “It would have made for a nice scrapbook, all the places Axel fell asleep,” Roxas agreed, also whispering. “What was it you wanted to do, Aqua?”

            They were huddled behind a couch in the common room, distinct from the others only because Lea had chosen it for his afternoon nap.

            Aqua held up a feather and a can of whipped cream. “This one is a classic. He’ll at least appreciate that.”

            Carefully, Roxas sprayed a generous helping of cream into Lea’s outstretched hand. Aqua then directed Xion to tickle Lea’s nose with the feather. With textbook form, Lea’s nose wrinkled, and he brought the cream-covered hand to his face.

            “Now what?” Roxas asked.

            “Now we abscond,” Aqua said, backing away from the couch as Lea opened his eyes.

            “We what?” asked Xion.

            “We _run!_ ”

 

 

            “Kairi, how long is this going to go on?” Riku asked.

            “I told you that, Riku. Until someone _fesses up_ ,” Kairi said. She took a sip of her coffee and frowned. Something was off.

            “You’re going to run out of ideas at some point,” Riku said.

            Kairi laughed. “Riku, I have not yet _begun_ to fight.”

            “Please stop quoting war movies,” Riku said, exasperated.

            “Never!” Kairi sipped her coffee again, still frowning. “Does this taste off to you?” She offered him the mug.

            Riku took a sip. “Nope. Tastes like decaf to me.”

            “…Excuse me?” Kairi said, her eyes widening.

            Riku took another sip. “Decaf.”

            “…Where did that come from?” Kairi asked, rushing over to the coffee jar.

            “Well… it’s what I put out instead of the normal stuff,” Riku said, with a tiny smile.

            Kairi whirled around. “You _what?!_ ”

            “I thought this was war?”

            Kairi’s eyes narrowed. “Riku I swear to–”

            “End the war, I put the normal stuff back,” he interrupted.

            Kairi continued to glare at him. “This is a low blow, Riku.”

            “Uh-huh,” he said, drily. “Enjoy your coffee, Princess.” He ignored her blush, leaned over to kiss her on the forehead, and walked out of the room.

 

 

            “Progress report?”

            “No one has admitted to it yet, Kairi,” Lea said. “Xion likes her new hairstyle, and Aqua and Ven are back in their room.”

            “You mean _fessed up,_ ” Kairi said, tone insistent. They had regrouped for a strategy meeting.

            “Sure, whatever.”

            “So what next?” Naminé asked. “Are we done?”

            “Absolutely not!” Kairi said. She sipped her coffee and made a face. “Sex in a canoe.”

            “Huh?” Lea asked.

            “Fucking close to water,” Kairi grumbled. “No, Riku is the next target, until he gives me back the real coffee. Or he would be, if he didn’t know me well enough to go into hiding. Therefore, we’re after Sora.”

            “I’m starting to get worried about your dietary habits, Kairi,” Naminé said, amused. “Why are you drinking coffee in the middle of the day?”

            “Shhhhhhhhhh,” Kairi said. “Doesn’t matter. Listen. I have a cunning plan…”

 

 

            “I thought we said no bodily injury or harm to personal effects?” Naminé asked.

            Kairi shrugged. “What’s a little water going to hurt?”

            “As the guy carrying the bucket, this is not a _little_ water,” Lea grunted.

            “It’ll be fine. Clothes can be washed,” Kairi said, dismissively. “Just keep a good hold on the bucket, Lea.”

            “Yeah, sure. Is he here yet?” Lea grumbled. They were standing on the top of the stairs, waiting for Sora to pass by. After Riku’s ultimatum to Kairi, her other boyfriend had also practically vanished, being far too used to how Kairi’s prank wars tended to go.

            A spikey-haired shadow appeared on the stairs. “Okay, three, two, one… now!” Kairi commanded, and Lea tipped the bucket. The water poured out, completely drenching the person on the stairs.

            Except the person wasn’t Sora.

            Vanitas stood there, dripping wet. A calm fury emanated from his very being, barely held in check. He locked eyes with them.

            “Yep,” he said, and continued down the stairs, and vanished.

 

 

            It was a full two days before they saw him again. The war had pretty much ended by that point, any plans Kairi or Aqua had scuttled entirely, because everyone was on guard, not knowing when or how Vanitas would strike back.

            They didn’t expect him to walk in in the middle of dinner. He climbed onto a chair to stand on the table, ignoring the disapproving look from Yen Sid. He pulled out a long piece of paper rolled into a scroll, and let it unfurl itself down to the floor. He put on a pair of obviously unnecessary reading glasses, and cleared his throat.

            “Understand, you brought this on yourselves. Let’s start with the minor infractions. Lea,” everyone’s attention turned to the redhead, “has been known to finish missions hours ahead of schedule, and Light Corridor directly into his room to make up the extra time by napping before reporting in.”

            Yen Sid’s disapproving look had now shifted to Lea, who reddened. But Vanitas wasn’t done.

            “Speaking of Lea napping, every time he falls asleep in the common room, Naminé sneaks over and draws a caricature of his sleeping face.” The blonde girl froze as all eyes turned to her, and she buried her face in her hands to avoid their gaze. “She then gives these drawings to Xion, who is keeping an album of them in her sock drawer.” Xion also reddened and looked away as she became the centre of attention.

            “Now, _Ventus_ ,” and the blond boy froze in mid-chew, “is who has been stealing Aqua’s sweaters. He wraps himself in them whenever he wakes up from a nightmare, because he’s starting to feel like he shouldn’t be trying to crawl into her bed anymore.”

            Next to Ventus, Roxas stifled a laugh, until Vanitas’s attention turned to him. “Oh, don’t laugh, Roxas, you’ve been doing the same thing with Xion’s sweaters.”

            “Well, they are sharing a room, that’s not that weird,” Kairi said.

            “And also with Lea’s scarves.”

            “It was _you!_ ” Lea yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Roxas.

            “Now, now, please leave all fighting until the end,” Vanitas said. “I have more to go. Speaking of scents, Riku still can’t tell Roxas and Ventus apart without smelling them.”

            Two identical blond heads gave identical dirty looks to Riku, who flushed and didn’t meet either of their eyes.

            “ _Master_ Aqua,” Vanitas said, sarcasm dripping off the title, “has used her power and position to make a slight modification to her room. She has included a mini-fridge, which is stocked full of royalberry ice cream.” The Keyblade Master was sinking slowly in her chair.

            “Aqua, is _that_ why that one corner of our room is always cold?” Ven asked.

            “…Maybe,” Aqua muttered, not meeting his eyes.

            “Kairi, on the other hand, is the reason why we can never seem to keep cookie dough in the main refrigerator.” Kairi flushed.

            “And as for _Sora_ ,” Vanitas continued, locking eyes with his doppelgänger.

            “What about me? You’ve got nothing,” Sora challenged, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

            Vanitas smirked. “Twenty days ago.”

            Sora shook his head. “Not ringing a bell.”

            “You stubbed your toe.”

            All of a sudden Sora broke out in a flop sweat. “Vanitas, don’t do this.”

            “I didn’t start this war, but by the Void I’m going to end it. You stubbed your toe.”

            “Yeah, so, that’s not a big deal,” Sora said, clearly nervous. Riku and Kairi both looked at him, concerned.

            “You stubbed your toe,” Vanitas continued, “Looked around to see if anyone was in earshot, and when you assumed no one was…”

            “Vanitas, _please_.”

            “You whispered a word, and looked very pleased with yourself about it.” The concerned looks were now looks of confusion, and Sora seemed on the edge of panic.

            “That word was ‘ _fuck’_.” Vanitas finished, smirking.

            There was a loud, scandalized gasp from Lea of all people, and Riku and Kairi looked disapprovingly at both Sora himself, who was trying to turn himself into part of the chair, and at the rest of the table. “And where exactly did he learn such language?” Kairi asked, furious although she did realize he could easily have picked it up from her.

            “Fuck if I know,” Vanitas shrugged, not caring. “Now, Donald and Goofy.”

            They waited with bated breath to hear what could possibly top the Sora revelation, but Vanitas simply shrugged. “Actually, I’ve got nothing. Donald has a locket with a picture of his girlfriend in it, and Goofy writes to his son every week. Congrats, you’re both clean.” The dog and duck both breathed a sigh of relief.

            “His Highness, on the other hand, still occasionally borrows his master’s hat.” Yen Sid turned the full force of his disapproving glare at Mickey, who chuckled nervously, and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

            “And finally,” Vanitas said, “The person who keeps leaving the coffee pot empty, which I’m lead to believe was the cause of all of this, is Master Yen Sid himself. For _shame_.” It was the sorcerer’s turn to be subjected to disapproving glares. “In conclusion, fuck all of you, goodbye.” Vanitas stepped off of the table, grabbed a plate of food, and stepped into the kitchen.

            Yen Sid cleared his throat. “…It would appear that I have been… lacking, somewhat, in changing the behaviour of the Tower to acclimate all of you. I do apologize, and hope that we can put this incident behind us.”

            “…Okay, fair’s fair,” Kairi said. “The responsible party has _fessed up_ , so this war is at an end.” There were loud sighs of relief across the length of the table. “Now, Riku, _where’s the real coffee?!_ ”

            Riku shrugged. “In the cupboard, where it always is.”

            Kairi’s mouth fell open. “Did you… did you not look for it?” Riku asked, amused.

            “…I hate you,” Kairi muttered.

            “No, you don’t.”

            “No, I don’t, you’re lovely and wonderful and I’m tremendously lucky to have you,” she muttered. Riku kissed her forehead, and she blushed.

            “Gawrsh, I guess this means we should undo what we did, huh, guys?” Goofy asked.

            “Probably,” Donald said. “I told you it was a bad idea!”

            “Aw, come on, Donald! It would’ve been funny!” Mickey said.

            “What would have been funny?” Sora asked.

            “Well… you remember when we asked you and Riku to leave your room alone for a bit?” Mickey asked him in return.

 

 

            Outside the Tower, there stood a tree. It wasn’t a very old tree, but it was strong enough and sturdy enough to hold up a twin-size bed.

            Kairi would definitely want that back before bedtime that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guess who else doesn't drink coffee? But I can believe that it's serious business.  
> All of these pranks are things I either found on tumblr, saw on Youtube, or just knew about already. So if some of them sound familiar (including the "foiled again" pun, and the "sex in a canoe" joke), that's why.  
> I do want to talk about one specific bit of this, though, namely Vanitas's list of transgressions. Remember how occasionally I would write things in advance? Yeah, save one or two lines, that entire thing predates Kairi and Lea's Excellent Adventure being uploaded. I play the _longest_ of games. Almost everything from "Except the person wasn't Sora" to "It was the sorcerer’s turn to be subjected to disapproving glares" was written long ago.  
> I did have to do some edits, since when I originally wrote this, I didn't have Ven and Aqua rooming together yet. So I had to add in a Ven reaction to the minifridge. Aside from that, it's entirely unedited; I forgot to make mention that Aqua and Lea have also been buying clothes, so Aqua has some sweaters (because she would wear them) and Lea has alternate scarves. Well, nobody's perfect. Except Cell.  
> Sora has said the fuck word. Sora will not be saying the fuck word (on"screen") again.  
> Almost posted this without mentioning! The idea of Aqua's hair being permanently dyed blue via magic, with her natural hair colour being black, is something I ~~stole~~ borrowed from Taliax's Cast A Shadow. I really like the idea of Aqua with black hair!  
> That should be about it! I've finished (ish, might need to add some stuff in) the fic that comes after this, which is good. I haven't made much progress on FF8, because I got distracted by Valkyria Chronicles, from which I got distracted by Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, from which I got distracted by Dragon Quest 6, from which I got distracted by Gravity Rush. (What even is finishing games?) I will get back to... all of that... eventually. Not necessarily in that order. But yeah, Gravity Rush is real good and you should play it if you have the opportunity.  
> Oh, and also, Lea's dyed hair makes him look like a Super Saiyan. That was intentional.  
> Until next time!


	10. Both of You, Fight Like You Want to Win!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ven has an idea. Roxas plays along. Lea's getting too old for this.

            “Hey, Roxas, I have an idea!”

            Roxas looked up from his book to see Ven standing next to his chair, and the word “puppy” echoed through his mind. “What’s up, Ven?”

            “Well, you know how we look alike?”

            “Wait, we do?” Roxas deadpanned, smirking. “Wow, hadn’t noticed.” Actually, he was starting to think his hair was just a shade or two browner than Ven’s.

            Ven rolled his eyes. “My point is, what do you say we try dressing alike? It could really mess people up, seeing two of the same person!”

            Roxas considered this. Axel had always been of the opinion that any tactic that could save your life was viable, and honour be damned. While he wasn’t a fan of being mistaken for Ventus accidentally, his idea might have merit. “Okay, I’ll go along with this for now. What did you have in mind?”

            Ven smiled, in what for him was a very sinister way. “Let me tell you…”

           

 

            Several days later Lea was sitting in the common room when Roxas walked in, and then Roxas walked in again. He blinked.

            “Xion, did Even start making Replicas again?” he asked.

            Xion, sitting next to him, shook her head. “Not to my knowledge. Also, rude, why would I know that?”

            Lea shrugged.

            “I think the logical assumption is that one of them is Ven,” Aqua said, drily. She had been sitting on the other couch.

            “Yeah, but which one?” Lea countered.

            “…You could ask?” Aqua said, in the same tone. “Ven?” she asked, addressing the two.

            Roxas and Ventus, for clearly one had to be each, looked at each other, and then back to her. “Yeah, Aqua?” they both said, in identical tones.

            Aqua pinched the bridge of her nose. “Of course.”

 

 

            “Okay, people, the question of the hour is, which blond is the jerk and which one is the human ray of sunshine?” Kairi announced.

            “Are you… trying to antagonize Roxas on purpose?” Naminé asked.

            Kairi shrugged. “Yeah. Makes sense to me, right?”

            Both of them looked at her and pouted. “Kairi, how _could_ you?” they asked in unison.

            “They are _really_ good at this,” Sora mused. Riku, unfortunately, was out on a mission, so they couldn’t use his nose to end it quickly. “Hey Vanitas, would you–”

            “Our hair isn’t the same colour. How the fuck would that even work? Also, no,” Vanitas snapped.

            “Aw,” Sora said, disappointed.

            Aqua rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Ven, what colour was the Wayfinder I made Terra?”

            Ven and Roxas both blinked, and didn’t answer.

            “Oh come on, not answering is cheating,” Kairi grumbled.

            They both shrugged.

            “Wait, wait, I’ve got this. Ven, what’s my name?” Lea said, grinning.

            The two looked at each other, and back to him. “Axel,” they said as one.

            “Crap,” Lea muttered. Kairi snorted. “Oh, laugh it up,” he said. “Your plan didn’t work either.”

            Xion had been sitting quietly while they tried to figure this out. With a bit of a flush to her face, she seemed to decide something, and stood up. “Roxas, Ven, can you stand up, please?”

            They complied, and she stepped over to both of them. She took a deep breath, and wrapped them both in a very tight hug.

            “Xion?” asked Kairi. “What’s this supposed to accomplish?”

            “Let her do it,” Lea said. “If this works it’s going to be hilarious.”

            “If what works?” Sora asked.

            Lea glanced at him, seemingly considering something. “Tell you when you’re older.”

            “Hey!”

            Xion held them both pressed against her for about thirty seconds. Eventually, she broke the hug, took a step closer to the one on her left. “Hello, Roxas,” she said, sweetly, and kissed his cheek. Roxas, for it was indeed him, flushed. Lea snickered.

            “Wait, how did you figure it out?” Ven asked, confused. Instead of answering, Roxas and Xion both reddened.

            “Doesn’t matter!” Kairi declared, noticing how close together they were still standing. “What was all this about, guys?”

            “Ven had this idea,” Roxas said, sitting back down with Xion next to him. “We’re identical. So that’s going to f… to mess people up if we act exactly alike in battle.”

            “This isn’t battle, though,” Naminé pointed out. “It’s one thing to act the same in a normal setting, but in a fight? Your Keyblades are very different, for one.”

            “We had a plan for that, actually,” Ven said. “If Sora’s willing to let me borrow the Keychain for his Oathkeeper.”

            “The lucky charm I made him and poured all my love for him into?” Kairi said, amused but with an undercurrent of concern in her voice.

            Ven flinched. “Y-yeah. Might not have been the most well-thought-out plan…”

            “But Ven, the two of you hold your Keyblades differently,” Aqua said. “Won’t that be a giveaway?”

            Ven puffed up, a little proud of himself. “It _would_ be, but we’ve spent the last week practicing each other’s grips!”

            “Wow. So you’re finally figuring out how to hold a Keyblade like a normal person, and not like an idiot,” Vanitas deadpanned. Ventus stood up, left, and came back five seconds later with a glass of water. He dipped his fingers in it and flicked them at Vanitas. Vanitas hissed like a cat and moved to stand behind Roxas.

            “Kids, play nice,” Roxas deadpanned. “Actually, we did want to ask you about that, Aqua. Would you consider sparring with the both of us? So we can see how viable this actually is?”

            “Sure, Roxas,” Aqua said. “But if you want me to be serious…”

            Ven and Roxas looked at each other and nodded. “Oh, we do,” Ven said, grinning.

            Aqua smirked. “All right then.”

 

 

            Aqua grunted as she braced herself against the two Keyblades. Ventus and Roxas had thrown themselves into moving in tandem, and it sometimes felt more like she was sparring with one person with two blades than two people. It was quite impressive for only a week or so’s work, considering they’d been working on it without anyone noticing.

            A small crowd had followed them out to the grounds to watch the match, but she didn’t let the sight of them distract her. She was the Master here; Ven was twelve years out of practice and Roxas had only a year’s experience to his name.

            She could hold her own just fine.

            Lea grinned as he watched the flashing Keyblades. Ven and Roxas had Aqua on the defensive, but she was holding steady, almost making it look easy. Beside him, Sora was even more enthralled.

            “Wow, that’s impressive that she can take the both of them like that! I’ve only fought Roxas before, I wonder what both of them at once would be like?” he mused.

            Lea bit his tongue. He absolutely would not, could not say what had just popped into his head, for two very good reasons.

            First, Xion would kill him.

            Second, Kairi and Riku would resurrect him just to kill him again.

            “Wow, Sora, that’s something I’d expect to hear from Xion, not from you.”

            Lea turned in horror to see Naminé standing behind them, an angelically innocent smile on her face that he knew meant she knew exactly what she’d just implied. Xion had also understood the subtext, and was rapidly turning bright red.

            Sora, in what Lea assumed must have been an intervention from Kingdom Hearts itself, had missed the implication entirely. “What? It’s exciting. And I think I’d do fine, thanks. I _am_ advanced enough to be considered for Mastery, you know. Even if I didn’t get it the first time through.”

            “I’m sure you would, Sora,” Naminé said. “Though I don’t think you could do it quite like that,” she added as Roxas sailed over their heads, sent flying by Aqua’s Spellweaver finish. Ventus had known enough about Aqua’s technique to dodge it, but Roxas hadn’t seen it coming.

            Sora shrugged. “Hey, I’m not _that_ bad at Command Styles anymore,” he said. “But yeah, I see what you mean.”

            Roxas staggered to his feet. “Sorry, Roxas! Should’ve warned you!” Ven called.

            “That’s _fine_ , Ven,” Roxas replied, a little groggy. “Aqua, how were we doing?”

            Aqua considered. “The way you two move is impressive, but you do need a lot more practice. And I was still able to tell which one of you was which.”

            “How?” Ven asked.

            Aqua chuckled. “The expressions on your faces. Ven just looked determined. Roxas…”

            “What about me?” Roxas asked, curious.

            Aqua bit her lip. “…Is there a polite way to say ‘out for blood’?” she asked, smiling.

            “Oh,” Roxas said.

            Ven laughed. “Well, on the plus side, we’re still distinct even when we’re trying to act like each other, right?”

            “Guess that’s a positive,” Roxas said, smiling himself. “So what’s the verdict, s’it a success or failure?”

            “It’s a work in progress!” Ven declared.

            “I agree,” Aqua said. “If this is something the two of you want to do, you’ll have to put time in. What you’ve accomplished is impressive, though.”

            “Yep. Proud of both of you, kids!” Lea said, mussing both of their hair. Ven laughed and pushed his hand away. Roxas scowled, but accepted the affection.

            “It was… impressive,” Vanitas allowed.

            “Thanks!” Ven said, beaming, and Vanitas scowled, looking away.

            Kairi had a mischievous look on her face. “Hey, Nam, Xion. If I said we should get haircuts and dye our hair to match Xion’s…”

            “No,” Naminé said. “I like having long hair, thanks.”

            “And it would be a bit pointless trying to match me,” Xion said, softly. “Seeing as…” She trailed off. Kairi put an arm around her.

            “It’s okay. Hey, everyone, want to go make hot chocolate? I think the boys have earned a nice reward!” she said, smiling.

            With that, the group trailed back into the Tower, Roxas explaining to Vanitas what hot chocolate was on the way in. Xion paused in the doorway for a second, looking at Roxas and Ven and seeming to mull over something. She shook her head, blushed, and hurried after the rest of the group.

            That would be something to… discuss, with Roxas at a later time. She was absolutely certain nothing would come of it, considering earlier, but hey, there was no harm in just thinking about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this one felt more like a filler chapter... it _kind of_ is? I had the idea and not much else to do with it (and thanks to AyumiUK (weirdpianist) for suggesting the twin swap waaaayyyy back in LoO that inspired it), so the idea alone ended up on the page. This is why I cut the chapter I mentioned cutting a while back; it would have been another where not much happens.  
> But! This chapter is exactly 1701 words! Which pleases my Star Trek loving heart to no end!  
> On to the chapter proper, though. You might be wondering why Vanitas couldn't just simply point out who was who by scent, like Riku could have if he was there. ~~It's because then they would solve it too quickly~~ It's because _could_ doesn't mean _would_. Why should he care if Ven is doing something dumb? (And, of course, though he won't admit it, he does consider Roxas a friend. He's not going to mess things up for him.)  
> If Xion's method for discerning the truth isn't clear... I'll tell you when you're older. Here's a hint: remember that Ven is asexual, and Roxas is... not.  
> The bit of Roxas and Ven sparring with Aqua, and Naminé making suggestive comments (from "Aqua grunted" to "Roxas hadn't seen it coming"), is older than some parts of KLEA. Written on my phone about a year before I started working on Re:Adjustments proper. Also part of the reason why I didn't cut this chapter. I put the effort in, needed to use it _somewhere_.  
> Are they going to actually use this technique? Probably not. It takes a lot of effort, and the two are still discernible even before you get to the different Keyblades. It's a fun idea but not very practical.  
> And as for the title... wow, that anime is two decades old. It's old enough that we're four years _past_ the far-off future year it's set in. Unfortunately, there were no DDR pads in the Tower for Roxas and Ven to practice with. (There are going to be some people that have no idea what any of this means and while I find that a little disappointing, I accept that not everyone has seen everything I have, even if it's still regarded as a ~~cash cow~~ classic.)  
> I think that about covers it! More Xion next week! Catch you then!


	11. Something Constructive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi and Aqua invite Xion to join in as they compare notes on making Wayfinders.

            Kairi found Xion poking through a book in the common room. She had a plan in mind for the day, and had already roped Aqua in. “Hey, Xion, what’s up?” she asked.

            Xion started. “Oh, hi, Kairi. Well… I found a book that’s about a person stealing someone else’s body. It’s a fairy tale, but…”

            Kairi’s eyes widened. “Oh. Yeah, that does seem oddly relevant. How does it end?”

            “The person who got bodysnatched doesn’t get it back,” Xion said. “The… I guess you could call it a moral? Is that the bodysnatcher is supposedly still out there somewhere, stealing bodies _to this very day_.” She waved her fingers in a faux-spooky manner. “In other words, don’t talk to strangers.” She closed the book, shaking her head. “Did you want me for something?”

            “Yes! Aqua and I were going to compare notes on making Wayfinders, and I was wondering if you wanted to join in? You’re supposed to use seashells, but she managed to make them out of glass! It’s really neat!” Plus, even with her new tasks of helping Naminé train and helping Aqua research, Xion still seemed down about not having her Keyblade. Kairi was hoping this could take her mind off of it.

            Xion considered this, then looked up and smiled at Kairi. “Sure,” she said, smiling, and stood up to join her.

 

 

            “So why metal and glass, Aqua?” Kairi asked. The three girls had gathered around a table in a side room, with a pile of seashells and several pieces of frames glass in various colours.

            “Well, I knew that shells are traditional, but we don’t really have a beach in the Land of Departure. So I went with a design motif that would remind us all of home,” Aqua explained.

            Xion was looking closely at Aqua’s Wayfinder, which she had produced as a reference. “What’s the symbol in the middle?”

            “That’s kind of the seal of the Land of Departure,” Aqua said. “See, it’s the same one I’m wearing.” She indicated the emblem pinned to her chest. “Ven has one, too. They indicated that we were Master Eraqus’s students.” Her smile dimmed a bit.

            Kairi cleared her throat. “…I was thinking of making Riku a Wayfinder to match Sora’s. Xion, do you think you’d want to try making one? I know you and Roxas have a thing with seashells. Especially since… _that_ is coming up.” She winked, and Aqua nodded in understanding.

            Xion considered this. She was wondering what to do for the thing Kairi was planning. This might just work.

            “Hmmm… I don’t think I want to make the star shape, though,” she mused. “I wonder if I could modify the design to… hmmm…”

            “To what?” Kairi asked. Xion shook her head. “I want to see if it works, first. How do we go about making these?”

            “Drilling the hole in the shell is the hard part,” Kairi said. “At least, on mine. Did you have to cut the glass for those yourself, Aqua?”

            Aqua nodded. “Magic goes a long way.”

            Kairi clapped a hand to her forehead. “Oh, _duh_! Can’t believe that didn’t occur to me!”

            “I don’t know,” Aqua said. “There’s something to be said for doing it the traditional way.”

            Xion smiled. “Once the shells are prepared, then what?”

            “Well, then you use the string or wire to…” Kairi trailed off. “Shit.”

            “Language,” Aqua teased, smirking. Kairi stuck her tongue out at her.

            “Did you forget something?” Xion asked.

            “Yep. Kind of an important part, too,” Kairi said. “The string, or wire, that binds them together. Would you two be up for an impromptu trip into Twilight Town?”

            “I don’t see why not,” Aqua said, smiling.

            “Sure!” said Xion, also grinning.

 

 

            It had taken a while for the train to arrive; apparently Lea and Naminé were already in Twilight Town, on one of their semi-regular sojourns to the record store. Kairi recalled the art supply store Hayner had introduced her and Naminé to, and was able to navigate back without hassle.

            She couldn’t help but notice that Xion seemed rather pensive as she and Aqua debated the pros and cons of fiber versus metal wire. “Something up, Xion?” she asked.

            Xion blinked. “Oh, not much. I was just thinking. The mansion that Riku and Naminé were living in, I remember there being a library in there. Maybe there’d be more books for Aqua and me to look through? I-I mean, since we’re here already, and…” She looked down, embarrassed, but Kairi was nodding.

            “No, I think that’s a great idea, Xi!” she said, smiling. “What do you think, Aqua?”

            “Well, I’ll admit I have been curious about seeing that mansion for real,” she said. “But… are you going to be okay going there again, Xion? I… we, rather, saw some of the things that happened to you at that mansion in Castle Oblivion, from Naminé’s memories.” Kairi nodded along.

            Xion considered this. “It’s all right. It’s been a long time since then. And the circumstances are very different.”

            Kairi patted her on the back. “If it gets to be too much, just tell us, okay?”

            Xion nodded. “Come on, it’s this way.”

 

 

            “Xion?” Aqua asked. “Not for nothing, but… this is a wall.”

            “Yeah… I guess they finally patched that hole,” Xion mused.

            “Hole?” Kairi asked.

            “There was a huge-ass hole in the wall about a year ago,” Xion explained. “It’s how we used to get to it. There was a path through the woods behind the wall.”

            “The mansion was outside the city limits?” Kairi asked. “Who would have built a mansion way out there?”

            Xion shrugged. “Rich asshole, is my guess? It did seem kind of abandoned before DiZ started squatting in it.”

            “Fair enough,” Kairi considered. “What now?”

            “I’m not sure,” Xion admitted. “There might be another way, but I don’t know what that would–”

            “Hey!” called a voice. “Fancy seeing you three here!”

            The girls looked up to see a trio of familiar faces. “Hayner! Pence! Olette!” Kairi called, beaming. “What’s up?”

            “Oh, you know, hanging around, doing odd jobs,” Pence said. “Have you checked out that restaurant that opened up? They have us passing out advertisements.”

            “There’s also the film festival on!” Olette added. “Though I’m guessing you guys don’t really have time to sit around and watch movies, huh?”

            “Ah, hah, yeah, not really,” Kairi admitted. “Hopefully we’ll have more free time sooner rather than later.”

            “So what’s bringing you out today?” Hayner asked. “I saw Naminé and Lea over in the record store earlier. Think they’re still there.”

            “Well, we needed something from the art store, but right now we’re trying to get back to the old mansion,” Xion explained. “When did they close the wall up?”

            “A couple months ago,” Olette said. “We were actually surprised it took as long as it did.”

            “Is there another way to get in?” Aqua asked.

            Hayner, Pence, and Olette looked at each other, and grimaced. “Yes… but it’s kind of…” Pence said, and trailed off.

            “It’s through the sewers,” Hayner said. “So… yeah. There’s that.”

            “Oh,” Aqua said. “…Well, if we have to, I guess? I’ve been to worse places.”

            “Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem, guys,” Kairi said, and Xion nodded her agreement. “Would you be willing to show us the way?”

            “Sure,” Pence said, “we’re off for the afternoon. Follow us!”

 

 

            “Blegh. Always hate going through there,” Xion said. The group had travelled through the Twilight Town sewers, exiting from an access hatch just beyond the wall, reasonably close to where the hole had once been. “If only because of the stench.”

            “I’ve smelled worse,” Aqua said, prompting confused looks from the Twilight Town natives. “It’s through the woods?”

            “Right through, just follow the path,” Xion confirmed. “But be careful, there used to be Heartless and Nobodies here.”

            “Right,” Aqua said. She moved to the front of the group, and Kairi moved towards the back. Neither of them drew their Keyblades, but they were both ready.

            They passed through the forest without incident, and gradually drew in sight of the old mansion’s gate. Xion swallowed, hard, seeing a flash of red hair and flames, but there was Kairi’s steadying hand on her shoulder, and the memory faded into the past, where it belonged.

            “You’re looking for the library, right?” Olette asked. “It’s to the left. The hidden passageway to the computer room is in the floor, so mind your step.”

            “What are you guys even looking for, anyway?” Hayner asked. “If that’s something we can ask.”

            Aqua pursed her lips. “Two friends of ours are in trouble, and we don’t quite know how to rescue them. So Ven, Xion, and I have been looking through books, trying to find out how we can help.”

            “Vague, but I can dig it,” Pence said. “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help, okay?”

            “Absolutely!” Kairi said.

            Aqua stepped towards the door, but as she reached out to it, a voice sounded from behind them.

            “Fascinating. I did not expect to encounter you here.”

            Aqua didn’t recognize it.

            But Kairi did.

            And so did Xion.

            Eyes wide, with a whispered “fuck” under each of their breaths, Xion and Kairi spun around to see a very tall man, wearing a familiar black coat. Golden eyes gleamed in his head, offsetting his Darkness-stained skin. A wild mane of silver hair extended down his back, standing up in the front. An empty smile graced his features.

            “Kairi,” he said. “It is… agreeable to see you once again.”

            “And I never wanted to see you again,” Kairi hissed. She took a step forwards, summoning her Keyblade.

            “Uh, Kairi? Gonna clue us in?” Hayner asked, also changing position to be between the man, and Pence and Olette.

            Aqua, however, hadn’t moved. She had practically frozen, staring at the newcomer’s face.

            “…Terra?” she whispered, almost too quiet to hear.

            “I’m afraid our second meeting would be inevitable, as you are one of the seven lights, and I one of the thirteen darknesses. We would have met again regardless, on the fated day,” the man said. “But by all means. Observe the niceties that humans insist upon. Introduce me.”

            Kairi’s teeth clenched. “This is Xemnas.”

            His lips slid apart in a mockery of a smile. “Correct.”

            “This is…” Aqua continued to whisper. “You can’t be…”

            “And you must be our returned Keyblade Master, Aqua,” Xemnas said, turning to her. “You must forgive me. I have heard that we have quite the shared history, but alas, I do not remember it.”

            “…You’re Terra’s body,” Aqua said, in a louder tone, but she still sounded in a daze.

            Xemnas shrugged. “Some would say that I am Xehanort’s body.”

            “Shut up!” Aqua barked, startling the rest of the group arrayed before him. “All that means is, if we take you here and now, we can restore Terra!” Moving to stand beside Kairi, she drew her own Keyblade.

            “Can you?” Xemnas said in a tone that would have been called mocking if he had emotions. “Would it not behoove you to use his actual body, and not this heartless vessel you see before you?”

            “His heart is–!” Aqua started, but Kairi held up a hand in front of her. “Don’t tell him anything he doesn’t know, Aqua!” she commanded.

            “A wise decision, Princess of Heart,” Xemnas drawled. “Then, I will make some assumptions. The two of you are here, along with another four that I assume are Roxas’s friends from the virtual Twilight Town constructed by my former master. Therefore, I would posit that you are looking for some way to restore your lost friends, Roxas, and Naminé.”

            “We’re not telling _you_ that!” Kairi said, confidently. Aqua didn’t betray any indication that Xemnas’s information was out of date. If Xehanort’s side believed that Roxas and Naminé were still within Sora and Kairi, all the better when they showed up to the final battle.

            “Of course you aren’t,” Xemnas said, in a tone that would sound amused if he was capable of being amused. “Why are you wasting your time with those shells? It is your other lights you should be looking to find.”

            Xion stepped forwards at that, fury in her eyes, but Hayner beat her to the punch. “Hey! Roxas is our _friend!_ ” he yelled. “We’d do anything to get him back!”

            “Anything?” Xemnas asked, smiling again. “Then perhaps Sora shall embrace the Darkness after all.”

            “He would never!” Kairi insisted, furious.

            “Empty platitudes,” Xemnas said, dismissively. “At this moment, it is _your_ light that interests me more.”

            “What do you mean?” Aqua challenged.

            Xemnas smiled again. The curious thing about him was that his smile was never threatening. He always looked more amused than anything else. “We cannot forge the χ–blade if your forces are insufficiently strong. We have tested Sora, and Riku. Given this opportunity, it is now _your_ turn.” He snapped his fingers, and a large group of Nobodies swirled into being behind him. They appeared to be dressed in robes, the ends of their sleeves bound together, clasped in front of their chests. A black cross was the only distinguishing feature on their heads. They pulsed in a disturbing fashion. Kairi (and Xion) recognized them as the kind of Nobodies known as Sorcerers, Xemnas’s personal servants.

            “Get in the mansion!” Kairi ordered, and Xion ushered the other three into the house. Kairi pointed her Keyblade at the door and locked it behind them, where they would be safe.

            More Nobodies rose up from the ground as Xemnas retreated to the edge of the forest. “These are spellcasters. Try to take them out as quickly as you can,” Kairi directed Aqua. “Sora says they don’t like attacks from above.”

            “Got it,” Aqua said. She looked at the younger girl and nodded.

            Kairi nodded back, determined. “Let’s get them!”

 

 

            This was horrible.

            Her friends were in danger.

            And Xion _still didn’t have her Keyblade_.

            She pressed her hands into fists, so hard her knuckles turned white, as she slid down the wall next to the door.

            It wasn’t _fair_.

            “Xion, you all right?” Olette asked, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

            “ _No_ ,” Xion whispered, forcefully. “I shouldn’t be sitting in here hiding. Aqua and Kairi _need_ me, and there’s nothing I can do to help them!”

            “There has to be something in here we can use as a weapon!” Hayner offered. “Come on, let’s look!”

            “Doesn’t matter,” Xion said, miserable. “That door’s going to stay locked unless someone with a Keyblade opens it. Even if we can find something, we’re stuck in here.”

            “Is there nothing else we can do to help?” Pence asked. “Did you really need a Keyblade to do all the stuff you talked about from back when you were in the Organization?”

            Xion shrugged. “Most of it. I can’t do anything helpful. I’m… useless.” A tear ran down her cheek.

            Olette wiped it away. “You are not useless, Xion. Look at us, we can’t do anything either. You’re not alone in this.”

            Xion sniffed, but smiled. “Thanks,” she said, softly.

            “Man, if only that computer in the basement was hooked up to literally anything else,” Pence mused. “We could call for help!”

            “Yeah, but call who?” Hayner asked. “Do you know anyone with a computer?” He was poking through a closet in the entryway. “Wait. Isn’t this…?” He pulled out a thin, black leather shape.

            “Wasn’t that what this Xemnas guy was wearing?” Olette asked, looking up from Xion.

            “Yeah, looks like it. This one’s smaller, though. Xion, wasn’t this what you were all wearing back then?”

            Xion’s eyes widened. “Yes… yes, it is!” She jumped up and grabbed it out of Hayner’s hands.

            “Whoa, what’s up?” he asked.

            “These coats protect against Darkness!” Xion said, pulling it around herself and doing up the zipper. It was slightly longer than her old one had been, likely one of Riku’s from back when he was living here. “I can go get help!”

            The Tower might prevent people from Dark Corridoring in, but there was one other place she could go for help. “All right. Hurry back!” Olette said, grabbing her forearm. Xion nodded, took a deep breath, and for the first time in a year, she opened a Dark Corridor.

            “Don’t follow me, it’s not safe without a coat,” she said, and stepped though.

            She hadn’t missed the near-suffocating atmosphere of the Dark Corridors, but luckily for her, she was only making a short hop. Three steps were all that was necessary to move to another location in the same world.

            A Dark Corridor burst into being in the middle of Twilight Town’s record store. Xion stepped out, and was immediately met with a firey orange Keyblade pointed at her face. “Lea, it’s me!” she said, throwing back the hood.

            “Xion? What’s going on?” Lea asked. Naminé stood a ways behind him, her Keyblade also at the ready.

            “Aqua and Kairi are pinned down at the old mansion. Xemnas is there!” Xion gasped out.

            “Give me the coat,” Lea said immediately. “Naminé, take a Light Corridor back to the Tower and get everyone else. Xion, go with her.”

            “Right,” Naminé said, and raised her Keyblade as Xion struggled out of the coat.

            “Lea, it’s not going to fit you,” she pointed out.

            “I can take it for a short hop,” he said. She tossed him the coat and he threw it over his shoulders, lifting the hood. “Go back with Naminé. I’m not saying stay, although I would prefer that,” he added as Xion opened her mouth to protest. “Two of you can gather everyone faster. Anything else I need to know? If it’s just Xemnas…”

            “He brought Sorcerers,” Xion said. “Said it was some kind of test?”

            “Of course,” Lea muttered, and summoned a Dark Corridor of his own. “Take care, kids!”

            “You be careful!” Naminé admonished, and they each stepped through their respective portals.

 

 

            Kairi grunted, sliding backwards to rest beside Aqua. The Keyblade Master was also breathing hard. “Is there no end to them?” Aqua asked.

            Xemnas, the smug bastard, was still idly watching from the back, blocking the easy way to retreat. “They’re kind of assholes like that, yeah,” Kairi replied. The Sorcerers weren’t giving them the time or room to Light Corridor away, even if they could do so without abandoning Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Xion.

            “Oh, great, another one,” Kairi grumbled as a Dark Corridor rose from behind Xemnas. The odds of capturing him had been slim to begin with, even if that was a viable option for getting Terra back. With another Organization member there…

            Fortunately, the person who rushed out of the Dark Corridor had handed in his resignation a long time ago. “Hey, Chief!” Lea snarked, swinging his Keyblade down at Xemnas. “Did I ever actually tell you ‘I quit’?”

            With a snap-hiss, Xemnas summoned one of his ethereal blades, catching Lea’s Keyblade on the beam of red energy. “As a matter of fact, you did not,” he replied. “Although I believe your actions have spoken for themselves quite well.” He seemed entirely unruffled by Lea’s appearance.

            “How did you get here?” Kairi called.

            “Long story!” Lea replied, struggling against Xemnas. The other man’s defense was like iron. “Expect more reinforcements!”

            “Good to hear!” Aqua said, dispatching a Sorcerer.

            Behind them, there was the sound of more portals opening, and Riku, Sora, and Ventus ran through, Keyblades at the ready. Ven froze in shock at the sight of Xemnas, but Riku and Sora moved to help Aqua and Kairi. The five of them managed to successfully mow down the remaining Sorcerers.

            “Ah, you have indeed recovered Ventus,” Xemnas mused. “I believe that is all I require of you. I await the next time we meet, on the fated day. Or… perhaps sooner.” With that cryptic remark, a Dark Corridor opened beneath his feet, and he vanished.

            Lea stumbled, thrown off balance with Xemnas’s sudden absence. “Yeah, you’d better run!” he shouted at the empty air. “You two all right?” he asked, directing his question to Kairi and Aqua.

            “Yeah, we’re fine,” Kairi said, brushing herself off. “We could’ve taken them.”

            “Not that many, and Xemnas,” Aqua said. “We’re glad you got here when you did.”

            “How did you know we were in trouble?” Kairi asked, accepting the hugs from Riku and Sora.

            “Xion and Naminé told us,” Sora explained.

            “Are we clear to come out?” came a voice from the still-active Light Corridor. Ven walked over and stuck his head through. “Yeah, we’re good!”

            Xion, Naminé, and Roxas stepped through the Corridor, Naminé and Roxas with their Keyblades at the ready. “And where were you three? Wasn’t expecting you to _actually_ stay put, Xi,” Lea asked, the relief evident in his voice softening the teasing.

            “Xion said Xemnas thought we still didn’t have bodies,” Roxas explained. “So we didn’t come through.”

            “Smart thinking,” Aqua said, and then did a double take. “Wait, Xion? How’d you get out here?”

            “Oh, yeah speaking of that,” Kairi said, and unsealed the door to the mansion. “It’s safe to come out now, guys!”

            Hayner, Pence, and Olette cautiously left the mansion. “He’s gone?” Hayner asked.

            Aqua nodded. “We got reinforcements.”

            “Oh, wow, everyone,” Pence remarked. “So the thing you did worked, Xion?”

            “What did you do?” Kairi asked, curious.

            Xion shrugged. “We found one of Riku’s old anti-Darkness coats in the mansion. So I Dark Corridored over to the record store to get Lea and Naminé.”

            “That’s one of my old coats?” Riku asked Lea.

            Lea shrugged. “Yeah, doesn’t fit me that well, on account of you being a shrimp. Xion tossed me the coat and I rushed over here, and I sent her and Nam to get all of you.”

            Aqua nodded. “Maybe we should be looking in to getting all of you Keyblade armour. I’ll make sure to mention that to Master Yen Sid.”

            “Well… we’ve had a busy day,” Pence said. “Do you guys still want to look through the library?”

            “Yes,” Aqua said. “Though I think there’s safety in numbers.” She frowned. “Did… Vanitas not come with you?”

            “He’s still under ‘house arrest’,” Riku explained. “Plus, if Xehanort doesn’t know Roxas and Naminé are back, why tell him that Vanitas is back, too?”

            “Good point,” Hayner said. “One question, though. Who’s Vanitas?”

            Ven sighed. “That’s… a long conversation. Tell you about him while we look for books.”

 

 

            “It did work! That’s great, Xion!” Kairi exclaimed.

            Xion held up the ornament she had been working on. Instead of the wayfinder star, it was four seashells, arranged like Roxas’s Nobody thorn zipper. “You think he’ll like it?”

            “He’ll love it,” Aqua agreed. They had returned from the old mansion with a likely stack of books from Ansem the Wise’s collection, and had returned to the task that had prompted all of this.

            “You really think so?” Xion asked, blushing.

            “We know so!” Kairi said, and Aqua nodded, laughing. “Also, I don’t think we thanked you.”

            “Thanked me?” Xion asked.

            “If you hadn’t gone to get Lea and the rest, we might not have been able to hold on,” Aqua explained. “You saved us, Xion.”

            Xion’s eyes widened. “I mean… it was… you guys are my friends!” she stammered. “I…”

            “Friends? I thought we were sisters,” Kairi teased, mussing Xion’s hair. “But seriously, thank you.”

            “Thank you,” Aqua echoed.

            Xion looked down at her new creation, and realized something. She’d made a difference. She’d helped. She wasn’t useless.

            Even without a Keyblade.

            Unbidden, tears started leaking down her face. “Xion?” Kairi asked, alarmed.

            “No, I… I didn’t think I could… I really helped, didn’t I.” she said, dazed.

            Aqua smiled, gently. “You really did. You saved us.”

            Xion smiled through her tears. “I… still want my Keyblade back, though,” she said, at little embarrassed.

            “Yeah, I don’t blame you,” Kairi said. “I can’t imagine what it would be like if I was stuck on the sidelines, not doing anything that felt important.”

            “Though, what you’ve been doing, for Ven and Terra and Vanitas and me… it’s been very important,” Aqua said. “At least, for us.” She patted Xion’s shoulder. “You’re a wonderful person, and the worlds are better for you being in them.”

            Xion blushed, and looked down, highly embarrassed. Kairi picked up on this and changed the subject. “So, while I have you two here, let’s talk about my upcoming _plans_ …”

           

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt I wrote myself for this chapter was just Kairi, Aqua, and Xion making Wayfinders. That's ALL it was supposed to be.  
> But then I got to thinking. It's all well and good for me to declare on multiple occasions that Xion's worth isn't based on whether or not she has a Keyblade, and then not have her do anything of large import until she does have one. I believe the term is "Empty Aesop."   
> I also got to thinking, "huh, I've got a lot of chapters in this fic where not a lot happens". Fortunately I could add to this one fairly easily.   
> As for why Xemnas in particular, as you may have noticed from the callback seven lines ago, in Adjustments Aqua and Ven met Terra's heart, as the Lingering Will. What if in Re:Adjustments, Aqua and Ven meet Terra's body, as Xemnas?   
> So you see, everything dovetailed nicely! And yes, Xion will be getting her Keyblade back; I finished the rewrite of the fic where it happens earlier this week!  
> I did say it would be obvious when we passed the point where KHIII had come out, right? Well, everyone missed it, it was actually Glass Houses (the viewfinder Naminé tricks Ven with. The reel shows... what, again?) But I'm sure you can tell where KHIII weighed most heavily.   
> Kairi's _plans_ will come to fruition later on in this fic. And that's all I can say for two weeks. ;)


	12. Anti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora gets Drive Forms back, and Riku and Kairi adopt a weird cat

            Sora stuck his head in the door of Yen Sid’s study. “You wanted to see me, sir?” he asked.

            “Ah, Sora,” Yen Sid said, looking up from some papers. “Yes. The good fairies and I have something to present to you.”

            Sora blinked. “Is it Keyblade armour? Aqua only brought it up a couple of days ago. Kind of a faster turnaround than I was expecting.”

            “No,” Yen Sid replied. “The project to make you all armour is underway, but it will be some time. This is something for yourself specifically, that they had already been working on.

            The door to the room off of the study opened, and Flora came out, hovering a couple inches above the floor. “Good to see you, my dear. Do you remember the powers we gave your last set of clothes?”

            “Hey, Flora!” Sora said, beaming. “It’s been a while, huh? Hmm…. Yeah, I remember! The different forms, right? Drive forms!”

            “That’s right. Master Yen Sid told us that you missed those powers?”

            Sora shrugged. “They were kind of useful, yeah. Not that I don’t like the new clothes!” he added, hastily. “They’re great! I love the plaid!” And he actually did. “But, utility, you know?”

            “Oh, we know, Sora,” Flora replied, laughing. “And so, we’ve found a way to modify your outfit so that you may use those forms again. And perhaps, even new ones, depending on whom you bond with.”

            “Really? That’s great!” Sora said. “Do I have to change, or..?”

            “No, just hold still for a little while, dear,” Flora said, and waved her wand over Sora.

            He looked down at himself. “Uh… not to sound ungrateful, but… nothing changed?”

            “The stripes on your shoulders, dear,” Flora pointed out.

            Sora looked closer. The lighter grey had now become the same plaid pattern as his lapels. “Oh, cool!”

            “I still say it should have been blue,” grumbled a voice from the doorway. Sora looked up to see Merriweather’s head poking out of it, sulking.

            “Sora’s a red kind of person, and you know it,” Flora responded with a little bit of venom. “Regardless, your powers should work just as they did before, Sora.”

            “With one exception,” Yen Sid interjected. “Since you no longer contain any heart but your own, you will not be able to wield more than one Keyblade.”

            “That’s fine!” Sora said, grinning. “Can I go? I want to show everyone!”

            Yen Sid nodded. “This was all. But, tell Vanitas I wish to speak with him.”

            “Can do!” Sora said. “Thanks, everyone!”

 

 

            “…and there was this one that looked exactly like my old outfit from before all this started, and I could do all sorts of cool Limit techniques!” Sora was saying excitedly. His audience consisted of Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Aqua, and Ventus, Roxas and Lea having been sent on a mission and Naminé and Xion in the middle of their own sparring session. Vanitas had grumbled about Yen Sid’s request, but had made it up to the study.

            “I remember those,” Goofy said, scratching his chin. “Ya drew on our powers as well as yer own, right?”

            “Exactly!” Sora said, beaming. “Riku! Spar with me! I wanna show everyone!”

            “If you’re sure, Sora,” Riku said, grinning. “Come on!”

            They took up their stances, and took a few exploratory swings at each other to warm up. “Ready?” Sora asked.

            “If you are,” Riku said.

            “Oh, I am!” Sora smiled. “I’m gonna do the Limit one I was telling you about, since it’s just me.”

            “Yeah, I don’t feel like getting pulled in today,” Donald snarked from the sidelines.

            Sora pouted, but straightened up and started smirking. “Get ready, Riku, here it comes!” He activated the transformation.

            But instead of changing the pattern of his clothes, something else happened. Sora’s body lifted into the air in a blaze of light, and when it faded…

            “What happened to him?” Kairi shrieked.

            Where Sora had been standing was now a crouching, bestial form leaking darkness.

            “It’s okay, it’s still Sora!” Goofy called, just as concerned. “It’s Anti-Form!”

            “It’s what?” Aqua asked, unsure if she should draw her Keyblade. The dark figure, upon closer inspection, was still Sora, only with a sinister midnight blue tinge to his body. The yellow eyes of a Heartless gleamed in his head as he looked at the people assembled near him.

            “This could happen sometimes,” Donald said. “He should turn back to normal eventually.”

            “Is he… dangerous?” Aqua asked.

            Donald and Goofy looked to each other. “Uh…” Donald said.

            “Gawrsh, we’ve never seen this happen when we weren’t in the middle of a fight,” Goofy said. “So we’re not sure what–”

            Anti-Sora lumbered forwards towards Riku. Cautiously, Riku dismissed his Keyblade, but Anti-Sora continued forwards. Instead of attacking, Anti-Sora pressed himself against Riku until the other boy fell down with Sora on top of him.

            “Um?” Riku asked, looking at Donald and Goofy, who shrugged.

            “Sora?” Kairi asked, approaching the two boys. “Are you all – whoa!”

            Anti-Sora lunged up and grabbed Kairi’s wrist, pulling her down on top of Riku, who gasped as the breath was forced out of his lungs. Before either of them could recover, Anti-Sora flopped himself on top of them, let out a loud sigh, and started making a low rumbling noise.

            “…I don’t believe it,” Aqua said, starting to chuckle.

            “Is he… purring?” Ven asked incredulously.

            Kairi looked at Riku, bewildered. “Well… you were the one who said we should get a cat,” she said, mock-accusatory.

            “Guys, how long does this last, again?” Riku asked Donald and Goofy.

            “Uh… usually it ended when the battle did,” Goofy said.

            “We’re not quite sure,” said Donald.

            “So it might be a while, then?” Aqua concluded. Donald and Goofy nodded, apologetic.

            Curious, Riku moved a hand towards Anti-Sora’s head. He perked up at the touch, and turned his head to sniff Riku’s hand. Once satisfied it was Riku, he rested his head back down and allowed Riku to pet his head. The purring intensified.

            “I’d be shocked if it lasted more than a day,” Donald offered.

            “Still,” Kairi said. “This is gonna be… a thing.”

           

 

            “You’ve guys’ve been awfully quiet today, what’s… holy _crap!_ ” Xion’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. Kairi and Riku had managed to coax Anti-Sora into the common room from the training ground with Aqua’s help, and they were now sitting on the couch with him draped across both of their laps. Every so often he would get up and change positions, depending on who he wanted to pet his head.

            “What happened?” Naminé asked, coming in behind her.

            “It’s a long story,” Kairi said, a bit tiredly, and filled them in.

            “So… he’s like an animal now?” Xion asked, peering closely at Anti-Sora. Anti-Sora’s head rose suspiciously.

            “Let him sniff your hand,” Riku cautioned. “He needs to know he knows you first.”

            Xion tentatively stuck out her hand. Anti-Sora took a couple of sniffs, and allowed her to gently pat his head. “Aw, he’s so cute!” she giggled.

            “Thanks, we raised him ourselves,” Kairi deadpanned, then chuckled.

            Naminé was shaking her head, “Are you sure this is all right? He’s not in pain or anything?”

            “Does he look like he’s in pain?” Riku said drily as Xion started to bring her hand away and Anti-Sora brought his head up for more pats.

            “Good point,” Naminé conceded.

            Kairi stretched her arms up. “Okay, Sora, darling, I love you to bits, but I need to use the bathroom. I have to get up.”

            Anti-Sora didn’t do or say anything in response, but when Kairi attempted to push him off, he seemed to get heavier somehow.

            “Sora,” Kairi said in a warning tone, and Anti-Sora let out a sound that could almost have been a whine, but got off her. “Thank you.”

            “Can I hold him?” Xion asked, excited.

            Riku looked at Anti-Sora. “I think that’s up to him. Sit down, see if he comes to you,” he said.

            Xion plopped down on a different couch, next to Aqua. “Sora! Come here!” she called, excited.

            “I didn’t know you liked cats, Xion,” Aqua said, amused.

            “Cats?” Xion asked, confused. Anti-Sora chose that moment to slide off of Riku and plop down on top of Xion. “Oof!” she gasped. “He’s heavier than he looks!”

            “Yep,” Riku said, smirking.

            Xion started petting Anti-Sora’s hair. “Who’s a good boy?” she cooed. Anti-Sora seemed to puzzle over this for a moment. “It’s you!” Xion exclaimed, ruffling his hair. The purring sound started up again.

            Aqua looked at Anti-Sora and blushed a bit. “Xion, do you mind if I..?” she asked hesitantly, moving her hand towards him.

            “No, of course not, go ahead!” Xion said. Aqua moved her hand in front of Anti-Sora’s face, and after deeming her acceptable, he allowed her to gently pet his head.

            “I… can’t pretend I haven’t always been tempted to do this,” Aqua explained, blushing harder, at Riku and Naminé’s knowing smirks. “I’m sorry, Riku, your boyfriend’s really cute.”

            “He is,” Riku agreed.

            “The fuck is _that?_ ” came from the doorway.

            “Hello, Vanitas,” Aqua ground out.

            Vanitas walked through the door and moved behind Riku’s couch. “I ask again. The fuck is that?”

            “It’s Sora,” Riku said, and explained what had happened.

            Vanitas stared at Anti-Sora, with what Riku was learning to recognize as a trace of fear in his eyes. “But he’s covered in _darkness!_ ”

            “He is. But I checked, it’s just his own darkness,” Riku said in what he hoped was a calming tone.

            Vanitas still looked shaken. He looked, Riku realized suddenly, like an older cat that had just been introduced to a kitten. With effort, he swallowed the burst of laughter.

            “You should try petting him,” Naminé suggested, a mischievous glint in her eye that only Riku saw.

            Vanitas glared at her. “No.” He looked at Aqua, still idly running her hands through Sora’s now-black hair, and a tinge of colour appeared on his cheeks. With effort, he seemed to relax himself. Riku smiled. He’d come a long way.

            “I’m back!” Kairi announced, coming through the door. “Hey, Vanitas! Whoa!” At the sound of her voice, Anti-Sora leapt off Xion’s lap and barreled right into her. “Okay, calm down, you bum, I was gone five minutes!”

            The purring noise got even louder. “It’s okay, Kairi, evidently he has a favourite,” Riku said, joking. Mostly.

            The purring stopped. Anti-Sora turned to Riku and let out the most miserable, heart-wrenching whine any of them had ever heard. He grabbed Kairi’s wrist and pulled her over to Riku’s couch, sandwiching himself between them.

            “I don’t think he plays favourites,” Kairi said, and kissed Riku’s cheek.

            Riku blushed. “Well… okay,” he mumbled.

            Anti-Sora also tried to kiss Riku’s cheek, but there was much more tongue involved. “Okay, if you’re going to be gross, I’m leaving,” Vanitas complained.

            “Sora, no. None of that. Wait until you’re you again,” Kairi admonished. Anti-Sora pouted, despite not having a visible mouth.

            “It wouldn’t be the first time he’s licked me,” Riku said, idly dabbing the saliva off his cheek.

            “Excuse me?” Aqua said, arching an eyebrow. Xion and Naminé were simultaneously blushing and giggling to themselves.

            “No, I mean… when we were younger… stop giggling!” Riku grumbled. Beside him, Kairi had started snickering, too. “ _You_ know what I mean, stop encouraging them!”

            “…For once, I think I actually _would_ like context,” Aqua said, sitting back and smirking. “Please, continue.”

            “Yeah, Riku,” Naminé teased. “Let’s hear it.”

            “Tell us a story!” Xion added in exactly the same tone.

            Riku sighed. “Fine. It all started when…”

 

 

            “…What’s going on?” Roxas asked, walking in the room where Xion, Naminé, Ventus, and Vanitas were all staring at something on the floor. “What are you all oh holy _crap_.”

            “Yeah, that was my reaction, too,” Xion said. “How’d the mission go?”

            “Pretty good, Axel’s reporting in to Yen Sid, but what _happened_?” Roxas asked. “How did Sora go Anti-Form again?”

            Ventus frowned. “You’ve seen this before?”

            “Yeah, from the inside. Wasn’t fun,” Roxas said.

            “The fairies figured out how to modify his clothes so he can use Drive Forms again,” Naminé explained, and continued on to relay the day’s events.

            “And he hasn’t changed back yet?” Roxas asked.

            “No… but he’s so cute, though,” Xion said.

            “Uh-huh.” Roxas said, deadpan.

            “You’re still cuter,” she whispered in his ear, and he blushed.

            “What is wrong with all of you?” Vanitas grumbled. “You don’t see _Ventus_ slobbering all over people like this.”

            “I… might be a bad comparison,” Ven mumbled. “Besides, a certain amount of it doesn’t bother me. It’s when things go further than this that I have to bow out.”

            “Didn’t ask, don’t care,” Vanitas said, and Ven rolled his eyes.

            “…what are you doing with him?” Roxas asked. Naminé held up a thin object that Roxas recognized as a laser pointer. “… you can’t be serious.”

            “No, he really goes after it, it’s funny!” Xion said. “We have some real toys, too, so that he doesn’t freak out on us.” There was a pile of tennis balls and stuffed mice on the floor by Anti-Sora; right now, the transformed boy was ignoring them to watch Roxas intently.

            “Is he okay? He’s staring at me,” Roxas said. As they watched, the light in Anti-Sora’s Heartless eyes dimmed, then rose back to normal.

            “Aw, blink back at him! He likes you!” Ven said.

            “Excuse me? I am not–” Roxas took one look at Xion’s pout and sighed, facing Anti-Sora and slowly blinking his eyes. Anti-Sora leaned forwards expectantly. “What now?”

            “Stick out your hand. He needs to check that he recognizes you,” Naminé suggested.

            “You can’t be serious,” Roxas grumbled, but stuck out his hand anyway. Anti-Sora leaned forwards to smell it, and then butted his head against it. “I’m not petting you, Sora,” Roxas said.

            Anti-Sora tilted his head and whined a little bit. “No,” said Roxas.

            “Wow, mean,” Xion teased.

            “Really?” Roxas asked her, diverting his attention enough to be caught completely off guard when Anti-Sora pushed forwards and knocked him off his feet. “Oof!”

            Before Roxas could get up, Anti-Sora curled up on his chest and began to purr. “Why?!” Roxas demanded of the worlds in general.

            Ven shrugged. “I guess he likes you.”

            “Fan- _tastic_ ,” Roxas ground out.

 

 

            “What is _he_ doing here?” Vanitas demanded.

            “He lives here,” Riku said, scratching Anti-Sora’s head.

            “Fuck _off_ , Riku, you know what I meant,” Vanitas said. “Why is he here, where we train?”

            “Because,” Riku said, noting pleasantly that there had been no more venom in the “fuck off” than the ones Kairi usually tossed at him, “he’s going to be helping us today.”

            Vanitas stared at him. “…You’re making this shit up as you go along.”

            “Did it really take you this long to realize that? I did a better job than I thought,” Riku said, smirking. “Sora’s going to be helping us with this. I want you to start trying to shape your darkness.”

            Vanitas frowned. “Shape it?”

            “Up until now, I’ve been having you use your darkness to power your spells, and add to your swings. But, you can also manipulate your darkness into different shapes.” Riku let a tendril of darkness rise up out of his palm. There was a low growling noise from Anti-Sora. “Hey, come on, Sora, it’s still me,” he said, lowering it for Anti-Sora to sniff. The growling slowed, then stopped. “As I was saying, you can mold it into other shapes.” The tendril shrunk down into a ball. “Like so!”

            “Then what?” Vanitas asked. They’d moved beyond Vanitas’s fear of appearing curious some time ago, though he still seemed cautious about asking too many questions.

            “Then, this,” Riku said, grinning. He drew back his arm and threw the ball across the room.

            The second it left his hand, Anti-Sora bolted across the room, and picked up the ball where it had landed. Once he retrieved it, he ran back to Riku and spat the ball at his feet, looking up with a wide, albeit mouthless, grin.

            “You’re serious,” Vanitas said. “You want me to play _fetch?_ ”

            “Yes,” Riku said. “The catch is you have to make the ball yourself.”

            Vanitas stared at him. “Why.”

            Riku shrugged. “Because it’s fun.”

            Vanitas continued to stare at him. Riku created another ball of darkness. “Here, first one’s free. Try it.”

            “Should I be worried you’re treating this like a drug?” Vanitas grumbled, but took the ball. He squinted. Anti-Sora walked over to him expectantly. Vanitas sighed, and threw the ball as hard as he could towards the far wall.

            No matter how far the throw, the back wall seemed to be far enough away that Anti-Sora could get up to speed, and chase down the ball. He zipped back to Vanitas, fast enough that the other boy nearly jerked backwards in shock.

            “Well, looks like he’s enjoying himself, at least,” Riku said, smirking. “Go on, try it yourself.”

            Vanitas rolled his eyes, but set to work.

 

 

            “What’s he doing now?” Vanitas demanded. He was sitting in the common room with a book in his lap. The “fetch” lesson had gone well, though it had taken him some time to make the ball shape. He had to pretend very hard that he hadn’t enjoyed how happy seeing him successfully make and throw a ball had made Anti-Sora. Riku had probably intended that reaction on purpose, the fucker.

            Readingwise, he’d graduated to what Aqua called a “first-grade level”. He was getting better, faster at figuring out words from the letters and finding it easier to remember words he’d already figured out. 

            He was also, however, finding it distracting that Anti-Sora was sitting on the opposite couch, emphatically _not_ staring at him.

            Kairi, who was sitting in a chair working on a wayfinder for Riku, shrugged. “If you ask me, he wants to be in the same place as you, but not actively engage with you.”

            “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Vanitas said.

            Kairi glared at him, then frowned. “Do you mean, wanting to be close but not too close is dumb, or wanting to be around _you_ is dumb?”

            “I…” To his immense frustration, Vanitas’s cheeks started to grow hot. “Shut up,” he grumbled.

            Kairi’s expression softened. “Vanitas…”

            “What?”

            Kairi pursed her lips. “You’re not… horrible to be around. If that’s what you think,” she said.

            Vanitas stared at his book, eyes not focusing on the words.

            “You’re coarse, and rough, and a bit irritating… but we all understand why you’re like that. And it’s not your fault.”

            “This is sounding pretty fucking close to _pity_ , Kairi,” he said, with a note of warning in his voice.

            Her eyes narrowed. “Sora, go see Riku,” she said. Anti-Sora blinked at her. “Go see Riku, I have to have words with Vanitas,” she said. Anti-Sora seemed to sigh, but left the room.

            Kairi watched him go, then turned back to Vanitas. “And what the _fuck_ is wrong with pity?” she asked.

            “I don’t _need_ it.”

            “No, you don’t _want_ it. You don’t _want_ it because you think it comes from a place on high. The other person looking down on you. And guess what? You’re actually right. But maybe, just _maybe_ , it’s not fucking _pity_ anymore. Maybe, it’s fucking _sympathy_ , because what you had to deal with was _bullshit_ , and the effects it’s had on you are _bullshit_ , and the walls it’s forcing you to put up are _bullshit_. You did not deserve what happened to you. So guess fucking what, Vanitas? Every time we see that you’re still hurt from it, we hurt, too. Because you aren’t a psychopath, you aren’t a monster, you’re just a scared kid who doesn’t know how to engage with people. And I think at this point, even with all the horrible shit you did, we can all see that. There’s more to you than the pain you’ve caused.” Kairi sat back and let out a long breath. “Feel like I’ve been holding that one in for _months_.”

            Vanitas stared at her. He couldn’t muster the words for a counterargument.

            Kairi looked over at him staring at her and let out a huff of laughter. “So, my point is, yes, Sora does just want to be around you. Even the normal him. He likes meeting new people and getting to know them. Always has.” She smiled, looking into the distance at something Vanitas couldn’t see. “So, he genuinely just wants to get to know you. Just for the sake of knowing you. I get how that might be a new experience for you.”

            “He’s… a lot,” Vanitas finally said, quietly.

            “He can be. But he means it with all his heart,” Kairi said, a loving tone in her voice.

            “I’m… not easy to be around,” Vanitas added, even quieter.

            Kairi smiled, gently. “Sora, somehow, always seems to find a way. And you know what? I think that, under all the defensive layers and knee-jerk hostility, you’re someone worth knowing.”

            There was rage building, not towards Kairi, but towards the blush that continued to grow on Vanitas’s face. “Whatever,” he muttered, lifting the book and burying his face in it.

 

 

            “Okay, it’s been almost a whole day,” Riku said. “Should we be starting to get worried?”

            Kairi idly rubbed Anti-Sora’s head. The three were sitting on their bed, Kairi’s having been re-added to the chimera once the prank war ended. “Maybe. But, he’s going to be okay, right? Donald and Goofy says it wears off.”

            “Yeah, but you think it’d have done so by this point,” Riku said.

            “Shhh. Just relax and look at how cute our cat boyfriend is,” Kairi said. Riku harrumphed, but started patting Sora’s head himself.

            “I wonder if his eyes would change colour depending on how we pet him,” he mused.

            “Huh?” Kairi asked, but before Riku could explain there was a burst of light. When it faded, Sora was back to normal.

            “Huh? Guys? What happened?” Sora said, confused. “…why are you petting me?”

            “SORA!” they both shouted, and Sora was immediately knocked flat on the mattress.

            “Whoa, okay, I like affection, but what’s going on?” he asked.

            They explained to him what had happened that day. “Oh, I got Anti-Form _again_? Figures,” he grumbled.

            “Are you sure the Drive Forms are worth it?” Riku asked. “If there’s a chance that’s going to happen to you again…”

            “Well, the next one after I get Anti-Form won’t be it again,” Sora said. “It just gets more likely the more I use it. So, as long as I’m careful, and only use it as a last resort, it should be fine! And, even if it does, you guys took good care of me,” he added, blushing.

            “Do you remember what happened while you were in Anti-Form?” Kairi asked, curious.

            “No? But I remember feelings,” Sora said. “Way back when, it was always cold and scary, but today? It was warm.”

            “Glad to hear it,” Kairi said, smiling. “Gotta say, you were pretty cute for a being shrouded in darkness.”

            “Really?” Sora said.

            “About as cute as you are right now,” Riku said, smirking.

            Sora blushed. “Stahhhp.”

            “Absolutely not.”

            “Never!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.  
> I had originally planned for this concept to be a dark look at how much Sora is holding in. How much everything that's happening, and his central role in events, is weighing on him. How much that's fueling his personal darkness.  
> It was going to be _dark_. It was going to be _painful_. It was going to be _heartwrenching_.  
>  _And then I read a bunch of headcanons about Anti-Form Sora being essentially just a weird cat._  
>  So yeah, this is what you get instead. Honestly, it would have been treading old ground about stuff I already addressed with Sora's fear of losing his Keyblade by restoring Ventus, so not much is lost here. He knows he can talk things out with Kairi and Riku (and his mom) now.  
> I think that's about it for the chapter itself. Drive Forms are back to stay, everyone will be getting armour eventually (Post-Terra).  
> Since I have the space, though, I want to talk about a worldbuilding thing that I haven't had the opportunity to address in what's been written yet. I do this now because I'm going to mention it offhand in a later fic, and I want everyone to know what I mean when I do.  
> The way I'm conceptualizing magic in this AU, the caster needs some sort of focus for their power, that lets them actually cast the spell. Keyblades are a focus. So are the weapons the Organization members use, as well as the ones the FF characters use. So is Yen Sid's hat.  
> I bring this up because I haven't really made it clear that not having a Keyblade also means Xion can't do magic. True, in Days she uses magic before her Keyblade appears, but I'm going to chalk that up to being a Replica at the time. She's a normal human now, for all intents and purposes, so until she gets her Keyblade back, no magic.  
> Well, having answered that question that literally nobody was asking, I'll see you next week for the final chapter, where Kairi's _plans_ come into play!


	13. Happy Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kairi's _plans_ come to fruition with a big surprise.

            Roxas stretched his shoulders. He’d give Yen Sid this over the Organization, at least when he sent them to eliminate random Heartless it actually felt like they were accomplishing something, instead of the task being meaningless busywork he expected was just supposed to fill his days.

            This time, Naminé had joined him and Axel. It was technically speaking her first mission, but she already gelled well with Axel in combat. Roxas was equal parts amused and slightly jealous, but he knew it’d pass. His friends were allowed to have other friends.

            Slightly more concerning was Axel’s attitude, not about Naminé, but in general. He’d always been able to tell when Axel wasn’t telling them something. And right now, he was keeping something secret.

            “Axel,” he said, “You’ve been acting funny all day. What’s up?”

            “Huh?” Axel said. “What do you mean, Rox?”

            “He’s right,” Naminé added. “Is something bothering you, Lea?”

            “What? Nah, just stress of the job, you know,” Axel said, with a wide smile that Roxas could tell was a diversionary tactic.

            “He’s lying,” he confided in Naminé, and was rewarded with a knowing nod from her and a glare from Axel. “Spill. What’s wrong?”

            “Seriously, Rox, nothing’s wrong,” Axel said, and to Roxas’s surprise, he seemed to be telling the truth. The conversation had carried them through the doors of the Mysterious Tower, and they were now climbing the stairs, heading towards the common room. Unconvinced, Roxas pulled off his gloves (he’d picked up another pair for missions in Twilight Town, as Xion would not appreciate it if he got his original pair dirty in the field).

            “Then, why are you acting like this?” Naminé asked, a note of concern in her voice.

            “Uh, no reason,” Axel said, eyeing the door of the common room. “Hey, I need to report to Yen Sid, so, you two go and make yourselves comfortable–”

            “This again?” Roxas said, shaking his head. “I thought you knew better than this, Axel. We’re your friends. Talk to us.”

            “He’s right,” Naminé added. She grabbed one of his arms, and Roxas grabbed the other. “Yen Sid can wait. Sit down with us and tell us what’s–”

            The second they opened the door to the common room, they were met with a loud sound, as everyone living in the Tower (save Yen Sid and Vanitas, present but silent), stood up and shouted, “SURPRISE!”

            Roxas blinked. “Surprise… what?”

            Sora stepped towards them as they let go of Axel’s arms. “Roxas, Naminé, don’t you know what day it is?”

            “…Friday?” Roxas asked, confused.

            “Well, yes, but no! Guys… It’s your birthday!” Sora said, beaming with a smile bright enough to light the Tower by itself.

            “It’s… what?” Roxas said. Naminé, next to him, had been struck speechless, her mouth hanging open.

            “It’s you guys’s birthday! You’re sixteen today! Or, three,” Sora said, shrugging but still smiling.

            “…What?” Roxas said, weakly.

            “It’s… wait, are you messing with me, or…?” Sora asked.

            “…What?”

 

 

            Naminé blinked in surprise as Roxas continued mouthing the word “what”. Lea stretched his arms and chuckled. “Like I said, guys, nothing was _wrong_. I was just keeping you busy while they set this up.”

            “You say that like you didn’t help plan it!” Kairi teased, walking over. “Happy birthday, guys! Come on, we’ve got cake and presents and everything!” She grabbed both their arms. “Make way for the birthday twins!” she called, and the group parted, revealing a table with two cakes sitting on it. One had sixteen candles on it, the other had three.

            “Birthday twins?” Naminé asked with some amusement.

            Kairi shrugged. “Born on the same day, makes you birthday twins.” 

            Roxas still looked lost. “You doing okay, Roxas?” Kairi asked.

            He took a deep breath. “Kairi, I know you guys put a lot of effort into this, but can I talk to you, Sora, and Riku in private for a moment?”

            Kairi frowned, confused. “Yeah, why?”

            “Just… I’ll explain later. Please?”

            Kairi and Naminé looked at each other, confused. “Yeah, come on. Sora, Riku, Roxas wants to talk to us,” Kairi said, grabbing her boyfriends’ arms.

            Xion walked up to Naminé and Roxas. “Everything okay?” she asked, concerned.

            Roxas forced a smile, and shook his head. “Yeah, I just… I need to ask them something. We’ll be back to the party in a bit, okay?”

            Xion frowned. “Okay. Talk to me about it later?”

            “Of course.”

            “Thank you.” She leaned over and kissed Roxas on the lips. “Early present, don’t worry, I got you something else, too.”

            Finally, he smiled. “Thank you. I love you, Xion.”

            “I love you, too, Roxas,” she said. Kairi waved from the door, having gathered Riku and Sora, and the four stepped out.

           

 

            Roxas led them down the corridor to one of the smaller rooms on the floor. He ushered them through the door, and closed it behind him.

            “What’s up, Roxas?” Sora asked.

            Roxas took a deep breath. “Why are you celebrating the day Sora almost died?”

            There was silence.

            “What do you mean?” Sora asked, with more seriousness than usual.

            “…I only exist because you almost died, Sora. I’m your Nobody. If you hadn’t become a Heartless, I wouldn’t be here at all. And…” he turned to Riku. “Look, I… I know I give you a lot of crap, but I don’t want to hurt you by pointing this out. But… it’s also the same day that the two of you fought, for real. It’s probably the lowest point in your collective relationship. Why are you commemorating that?”

            “…That’s true,” Riku conceded. “But, it’s also the day Kairi saved him from turning into a Heartless. Or, brought him back from being one.”

            “And more than that. It’s the day you and Naminé came into being,” Kairi said. “Yes, it was probably the most strain our friendship had ever been under. But, we didn’t break. I won’t pretend these idiots fighting over who got to save me was a turning point in how we felt about each other or anything, but we’re past that now.” She smiled, gently. “We have a choice in how to remember days in our history. And we’re choosing to remember that day as the day you and Naminé entered the worlds. Because that’s a good thing that happened that day. Does that make sense?” she asked him.

            Roxas considered this. “I… guess that makes sense,” he said. “But, because Naminé and I existed, Sora–”

            “Nope! None of that, mister! Because you and Naminé exist I have a kickass little sister and an adorable future brother-in-law!” Kairi said, mock-seriously, ruffling his hair.

            Roxas found he was blushing too hard to argue. “All right, fine!” he gasped, pulling out from under her touch.

            “So, it’s okay if you don’t want to go back to the party,” Riku started, but Roxas shook his head.

            “No, it’s… I just… wanted to know you three were all right,” he muttered, not meeting their eyes.

            Kairi and Sora broke into identical expressions of awe. “Aw, Roxas, that’s so kind of you!” Kairi said. “Such a softy!”

            “Go… take care of… yourself,” Roxas ground out.

            Kairi smirked. “‘Take care of myself’? That’s what I have _them_ for,” she said, winking as she indicated Sora and Riku. Roxas and Sora’s faces both turned bright red.

            Riku sighed. “I’m going back to the party before Lea sets the room on fire trying to light the candles.”

            “That’s a good point, let’s do that,” Roxas said quickly. They left the room, Kairi’s snickering following them from behind all the way back.

 

 

            “All good?” Xion asked as they stepped back into the room.

            “All good,” Roxas said, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her. She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

            “Okay, enough with the cute, come over here and blow out the candles,” Lea called. Roxas and Xion looked at each other, then both smirked, and sidestepped towards the tables with the cakes, bending down so that Roxas could reach the candles.

            “I can’t take you two anywhere,” Lea grumbled, but smiled. “Naminé?”

            “I just… blow out the flame?” she asked.

            Ven, standing beside her, nodded. “And make a wish!”

            “They say that it won’t come true if you tell anyone what it was, though,” Aqua said, smiling.

            “Really?” Naminé asked.

            “Well, it’s not necessarily real,” Aqua explained. “Just something people tell kids.”

            Vanitas, in the corner, snorted. “Really? We can shoot fire out of our hands but _this_ is where we draw the line?”

            Aqua glared at him, but held her tongue. Naminé, considering this, decided not to tell anyone what she had in mind. She closed her eyes, and blew.

            “Wow. Sixteen in one go,” Kairi commented. “Good job!”

            “So Roxas gets the easy one, huh?” Donald said, drily. Roxas glared at him. With effort, he and Xion configured themselves so he had a clear shot at the candles. In a single breath, he managed to blow out the last three.

            “Congratulations!” Goofy said. “You know, Aqua, you forgot that if ya don’t blow them out all at once, the wish doesn’t come true.”

            Aqua blinked. “It doesn’t?”

            Goofy shrugged. “That was the rule I used with Maxie, at least. He always tried his hardest ta get them all.”

            Roxas and Xion had straightened back up. “Wow, I’m dating an older boy. What’s my mom going to say?” Xion teased.

            Roxas blushed a tiny bit. “Only by like, a month.”

            “Stop smooching, eat cake,” Lea ordered, shoving a plate between them. “And eat it fast, I picked this up from Twilight Town and it’s probably gonna melt soon.”

            “Melt?” Roxas asked, and then he focused on the cake in front of him. “Wait, is this…?”

            “Ice cream cake. Sea-salt flavoured,” Lea said, grinning. “Happy birthday, Rox.” He stifled a laugh as Roxas’s eyes started to bug out of his head.

            “Cake first, then presents,” Kairi ordered. “And the other one isn’t ice cream, Sora,” she said at the trepidatious look on Sora’s face.

            Ventus approached Vanitas with a plate of cake. “Here,” he said, offering it. “It’s chocolate.”

            Vanitas’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but he took the plate anyway.

            Yen Sid, who had been nearly forgotten on the couch, stood up. “I’m afraid I have no desire to bring down the mood, as it were,” he said. “Roxas, Naminé, I wish you many happy returns of the day, but I must take my leave.”

            “I’m afraid we have to go as well, my dears,” Flora said, Fauna and Merryweather nodding behind her. “Have a very happy birthday!”

            “Thanks for coming!” Naminé said brightly. She’d already had a better-than-usual mood that day, and it was still going up. She realized there’d likely be a crash at some point, but she knew Kairi would be there for her when it happened, so there was no point in dreading it.

            The presentation of presents went well, Naminé ending up with several new brush sets, a set of watercolours, and more additions to her ever-growing mountain of coloured pencils. But the highlight of it all, for her, was Lea’s gift. He’d gotten her a portable CD player.

            “Wait…” she asked, looking at the CD Aqua had given her to go with it. “Is this..?” “That’s the one you always listen to when we go to the record store, yeah,” Lea said.

            “Lea picked it out,” Aqua said apologetically. “I’m sorry, all the bands I used to listen to don’t seem to really be your kind of music, so–” She was interrupted by Naminé throwing her arms around both of them.

            “ _Thank you both so much!_ ” she said, crying a little bit out of sheer happiness.

            Across the room, Roxas had been presented with Xion’s modified wayfinder, and was clutching it like he’d just been handed a newborn baby, other presents appreciated, but forgotten.

            “You like it?” Xion asked.

            “ _I love it!_ Xion, I…!” Roxas found he couldn’t words. Xion beamed, and kissed his cheek.

            “Aw, it looks like they’re having fun,” Sora said, from his position next to Kairi. She nodded, saying, “Shame we can’t have Xion’s be a surprise, but it’s coming up really quick.”

            “That means you have like a month to get her a present, Roxas!” Riku called, teasing. Roxas turned to him, but instead of sniping back, merely gave him an entirely serious thumbs up.

            Vanitas walked over to Roxas. “I… didn’t know what to…” he muttered gruffly. 

            Roxas nodded. “That’s okay, Van. I’ll consider your presence my presents,” he said, smirking. “Glad you came.”

            Vanitas blushed. “I live here,” he blurted, and walked away.

            Roxas smirked. “I’m proud of him.”

            Xion frowned. “Does he seem… surlier than usual, to you?”

            Ven sat down next to them. “Are you seeing it, too, Xion? I think I’m going to go talk to him. Do you mind?”

            Roxas shrugged. “It’s a free Tower. And I mean, Kairi’s the party curator. Or party boss. Or whatever you call the person in charge.”

            “Thanks. Hopefully we’ll both be right back,” Ven said, and stood back up, following Vanitas out of the door.

 

 

            “Why are you following me, weakling?” Vanitas grumbled as Ventus followed him up the stairs.

            “Cause you look like you’ve got something on your mind, loser,” Ven answered, calmly. Vanitas huffed.

            Ven followed him out to the same balcony he’d been sitting on after reconciling with Aqua. Vanitas sat down without saying anything, staring out at the horizon.

            Ven sat down beside him, waiting for Vanitas to talk.

            “The old man wants to send me on a mission,” he said finally.

            Ven hid his surprise. “On your own?” he asked.

            “No. With fucking _Sora_ ,” Vanitas spat.

            Ven considered this. “Is your problem with the fact that it’s Sora, or the fact that you’re being sent out?”

            Vanitas glared at him and didn’t answer. Ven sighed, summoned his Keyblade, and sealed the door to the balcony behind them. “It’s just me here. What’s bothering you?” he asked.

            “…I’m not ready,” Vanitas said, finally.

            “Why not? Riku makes it sound like you’re doing okay,” Ven said.

            “Because I’m just not, all right?” Vanitas snapped. “I’m just fucking not.”

            “…you don’t trust yourself, do you?” Ven asked. “You don’t trust yourself to be sent out.”

            “…there’s a way I’m used to doing things,” Vanitas said. “I doubt it’d be _acceptable_ to you light-blind do-gooders.”

            Ven sat back, considering. “Do you trust Sora?”

            “Fuck no,” Vanitas shot back.

            “Let me rephrase,” Ven said. “Is Sora predictable to you?”

            “…yes,” Vanitas said, begrudgingly.

            “So, in your estimation, do you think he’d stop you before you go too far?”

            Vanitas was silent.

            “I didn’t ask if you thought he _could_ ,” Ven said mildly. “Do you think he _would_?”

            “…yes,” Vanitas muttered.

            “So, you can rely on him to be a check for you. But, honestly, Vanitas, I don’t think you’re going to default to the way you used to be,” Ven said. “You’ve changed a lot. For the better.”

            “Not enough,” Vanitas muttered.

            “I don’t think there has to be an ‘enough’,” Ven said. “You’re better than you used to be. That’s what counts. And you’re making an effort. I know you are. And I know it’s hard for you. But, you’re sticking to it. I’m proud of you.”

            For a second Ven thought Vanitas was going to fall off the balcony. As it was, his face turned the brightest red Ven had ever seen, and he didn’t breathe for so long Ven thought he was in danger of asphyxiating.

            “…I don’t need your _approval_ ,” Vanitas said, eventually.

            “No, you don’t,” Ven agreed.

            “I don’t need your _praise_.”

            “No, you don’t.”

            “I don’t need your _consideration_.”

            “No, you don’t.”

            There was silence. Ven smiled. “But… it’s nice to know you earned them, right?”

            It was quiet. It was so quiet Ven almost couldn’t be sure he heard it. It was so quiet Vanitas would be well within his rights to swear it hadn’t happened, which, Ven reflected, he probably would.

            It was quiet, but in the stillness, Vanitas whispered, “ _Yes._ ”

 

 

            Hours after the party, Naminé stood in front of her easel. She’d never tried watercolours before, but was enjoying the new medium immensely. Adding to her enjoyment was the CD player hanging from her hip, and the headphones clasped around her ears.

            She danced and swayed to the beat as she painted, the music adding life to the simple landscape she was creating. It was freeing in a way she’d never thought possible, having never really experienced music until Lea’d brought her to the store. Even there, she’d been a bit self-conscious about dancing to the music, but Lea had simply smiled, laughed, and told her he’d scare away anyone who tried to make her stop.

            She suddenly realized there was one thing she’d never been able to do in the store, which she could now that she had a personal music player here in her own room. With a somewhat needlessly guilty glance at the door to make sure it was shut, she took a deep breath. As the next song on the album started playing, she opened her mouth.

            “ _A sudden kiss in the morning,_ ” she whispered, “ _a tender gaze in the evening,_ ”

            As she continued, and no one burst in to tell her to stop, she gradually got louder.

_Beyond my range of comprehension, until you brought to attention,_

_Greetings always followed by sweet goodbyes, yes, all must meet its end_

_Baby, can’t you just relax? Don’t look back, don’t hurry!_

            As she sang, she swayed to the beat, the brushstrokes on her canvas taking on a new, vibrant life

_Still reminiscing the day when, you left me all on my own, then_

_I walked away from any daylight, instead of dawn it was twilight_

_Underneath the disco ball, breaks the spell that holds you in my mind_

_Though I used to dance with you, now we’re through, I’m sorry!_

            Her voice gradually got louder as the world outside her music, her brush, and her easel faded away, a broad smile rising on her face as she headed into the chorus.

_Don’t you dare even try to convince me, don’t you lie ‘bout the way that we could be_

_“Love’s a game”, they all say it, they mean it – might as well have fun, play every single one!_

_I filled the holes and the cracks in my heart with_

_Fancy high heels and plenty of dresses_

_They’re my sole companions on this journey!_

            “Oh, so you got my singing voice, too, huh?”

            Naminé whirled around to see Kairi sticking her head in the door, and adoring smile on her face. “Kairi! I was just! I mean! I wasn’t! I was–!”

            Kairi laughed, and shook her head. “Nam, I’m just playing games. These walls are pretty thick, I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been standing outside the door to begin with. But, you do have a lovely singing voice. You should try to duet with Roxas some time!”

            Naminé blushed. “That’s… uh… thank you. W-what did you need me for?”

            “Oh, I just wanted to ask how you were doing. We did kind of surprise you,” Kairi said.

            Naminé smiled. “Yes, but it was a very good surprise. Thank you so much, Kairi.”

            Kairi beamed. “No problem. Can I hug you?”

            “Always!” Naminé set down the brush and took off her smock, not wanting to cover Kairi in stray paint, and the two hugged, tightly.

            “Happy birthday, little sis,” Kairi whispered in her ear.

            Naminé laughed, and hugged her tighter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adjustments ended with a nasty surprise (for the characters, if not for us), so why not end Re:Adjustments with a nice one?  
> If you're wondering, I don't have a solid "takes place over X many days" for this AU, so this is the closest we're going to get to that kind of "grounding" of the timeline. I've given amounts of time between some events, but both Adjustments fics take place over an unspecified period of time (unless the time _is_ specified, like how Lesson Number One, Second Skin, and Get Real all happen over the course of one day). The important takeaway here is that it has now been 13 years since BBS. (ish. The characters are going to start saying "thirteen years ago" instead of "twelve years ago"; I have no idea if Day 1 of Days was actually 10 years exactly after BBS, nor do I particularly care.)  
> Sorry for skimping on the present descriptions, but I have a hard enough time trying to figure out presents for my real-life family and friends, without coming up with however many presents for Roxas and Naminé. I also have to apologize for the perspective shift from Roxas to Naminé; it wasn't planned, but I just _could not_ wrap my head around calling Lea "Axel" for Roxas's narration. This is why 90% of their one-on-one interaction is from Lea's point of view.  
> I'm proud of Vanitas. Are you proud of Vanitas? I'm proud of Vanitas. His mission with Sora was going to be the last chapter of this fic, but it got _waaaaaaay_ too long, so it's going to be the next fic instead. Back to this in a second.  
> The song that Naminé's singing is a mystery, even to me... Nah, I'm just playing games; [I know it's Plastic Love.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vunm-W-ovLc) Don't give me that look, it's a fucking bop. And the quiet desperation and melancholy it has (the song is about buying things to try to fill the need for human connection in your heart) kinda fits Naminé, who's very much the kind of person who'd be comforted by the idea that nothing matters. We'll all be dead in a thousand years anyway, so might as well have some fun now!  
> And back on the next fic, it's housekeeping time! People who've been here a while, you know the drill, but for everyone and anyone new, the next fic will go up in two weeks' time. Or, it'll start, at least.  
> See, here's the thing. We have one "one-shot" until after Xehanort's dead. Every other fic between now and then will have at least two chapters. This coming fic will have three. It's done, but this does mean I still have a lot of writing to do. Especially since there'll be another Adjustments fic (Adjustments Final Mix, yes, that's what I'm going with at the moment) after getting Terra back. That'll be around the same length as the first two, so say 13-15 chapters, _and_ it will lead into the Xehanort fight fic. And as of yet I have _no idea_ how long that's going to wind up being once it's all written out. So, chapters will be going up weekly, so that I can try to maintain the schedule I have been.  
> I think that's everything, I'm probably wrong, but I don't think I am! I hope you've enjoyed these slices of life, and now I'm off to go put Ultimecia in... _time out._ [B)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YMPAH67f4o)  
> Until next time!


End file.
